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Scanning Electron Microscopy and EDX Spectroscopy of Commercial Swabs Used for COVID-19 Lateral Flow Testing

The chemical composition of COVID test swabs has not been examined beyond the manufacturer’s datasheets. The unprecedented demand for swabs to conduct rapid lateral flow tests and nucleic acid amplification tests led to mass production, including 3D printing platforms. Manufacturing impurities could...

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Autores principales: Aparicio-Alonso, Manuel, Torres-Solórzano, Verónica, Méndez-Contreras, José Francisco, Acevedo-Whitehouse, Karina
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10610828/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37888657
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/toxics11100805
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author Aparicio-Alonso, Manuel
Torres-Solórzano, Verónica
Méndez-Contreras, José Francisco
Acevedo-Whitehouse, Karina
author_facet Aparicio-Alonso, Manuel
Torres-Solórzano, Verónica
Méndez-Contreras, José Francisco
Acevedo-Whitehouse, Karina
author_sort Aparicio-Alonso, Manuel
collection PubMed
description The chemical composition of COVID test swabs has not been examined beyond the manufacturer’s datasheets. The unprecedented demand for swabs to conduct rapid lateral flow tests and nucleic acid amplification tests led to mass production, including 3D printing platforms. Manufacturing impurities could be present in the swabs and, if so, could pose a risk to human health. We used scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy to examine the ultrastructure of seven assorted brands of COVID test swabs and to identify and quantify their chemical elements. We detected eight unexpected elements, including transition metals, such as titanium and zirconium, the metalloid silicon, as well as post-transition metals aluminium and gallium, and the non-metal elements sulphur and fluorine. Some of the elements were detected as trace amounts, but for others, the amount was close to reported toxicological thresholds for inhalation routes. Experimental studies have shown that the detrimental effects of unexpected chemical elements include moderate to severe inflammatory states in the exposed epithelium as well as proliferative changes. Given the massive testing still being used in the context of the COVID pandemic, we urge caution in continuing to recommend repeated and frequent testing, particularly of healthy, non-symptomatic, individuals.
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spelling pubmed-106108282023-10-28 Scanning Electron Microscopy and EDX Spectroscopy of Commercial Swabs Used for COVID-19 Lateral Flow Testing Aparicio-Alonso, Manuel Torres-Solórzano, Verónica Méndez-Contreras, José Francisco Acevedo-Whitehouse, Karina Toxics Article The chemical composition of COVID test swabs has not been examined beyond the manufacturer’s datasheets. The unprecedented demand for swabs to conduct rapid lateral flow tests and nucleic acid amplification tests led to mass production, including 3D printing platforms. Manufacturing impurities could be present in the swabs and, if so, could pose a risk to human health. We used scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy to examine the ultrastructure of seven assorted brands of COVID test swabs and to identify and quantify their chemical elements. We detected eight unexpected elements, including transition metals, such as titanium and zirconium, the metalloid silicon, as well as post-transition metals aluminium and gallium, and the non-metal elements sulphur and fluorine. Some of the elements were detected as trace amounts, but for others, the amount was close to reported toxicological thresholds for inhalation routes. Experimental studies have shown that the detrimental effects of unexpected chemical elements include moderate to severe inflammatory states in the exposed epithelium as well as proliferative changes. Given the massive testing still being used in the context of the COVID pandemic, we urge caution in continuing to recommend repeated and frequent testing, particularly of healthy, non-symptomatic, individuals. MDPI 2023-09-24 /pmc/articles/PMC10610828/ /pubmed/37888657 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/toxics11100805 Text en © 2023 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Aparicio-Alonso, Manuel
Torres-Solórzano, Verónica
Méndez-Contreras, José Francisco
Acevedo-Whitehouse, Karina
Scanning Electron Microscopy and EDX Spectroscopy of Commercial Swabs Used for COVID-19 Lateral Flow Testing
title Scanning Electron Microscopy and EDX Spectroscopy of Commercial Swabs Used for COVID-19 Lateral Flow Testing
title_full Scanning Electron Microscopy and EDX Spectroscopy of Commercial Swabs Used for COVID-19 Lateral Flow Testing
title_fullStr Scanning Electron Microscopy and EDX Spectroscopy of Commercial Swabs Used for COVID-19 Lateral Flow Testing
title_full_unstemmed Scanning Electron Microscopy and EDX Spectroscopy of Commercial Swabs Used for COVID-19 Lateral Flow Testing
title_short Scanning Electron Microscopy and EDX Spectroscopy of Commercial Swabs Used for COVID-19 Lateral Flow Testing
title_sort scanning electron microscopy and edx spectroscopy of commercial swabs used for covid-19 lateral flow testing
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10610828/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37888657
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/toxics11100805
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