Cargando…

Exposure to Perfluoroalkyl Substances and Mortality for COVID-19: A Spatial Ecological Analysis in the Veneto Region (Italy)

Background: In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is interest in assessing if per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) exposures are associated with any increased risk of COVID-19 or its severity, given the evidence of immunosuppression by some PFAS. The objective of this paper is to eval...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Catelan, Dolores, Biggeri, Annibale, Russo, Francesca, Gregori, Dario, Pitter, Gisella, Da Re, Filippo, Fletcher, Tony, Canova, Cristina
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7967461/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33800362
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18052734
_version_ 1783665881877839872
author Catelan, Dolores
Biggeri, Annibale
Russo, Francesca
Gregori, Dario
Pitter, Gisella
Da Re, Filippo
Fletcher, Tony
Canova, Cristina
author_facet Catelan, Dolores
Biggeri, Annibale
Russo, Francesca
Gregori, Dario
Pitter, Gisella
Da Re, Filippo
Fletcher, Tony
Canova, Cristina
author_sort Catelan, Dolores
collection PubMed
description Background: In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is interest in assessing if per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) exposures are associated with any increased risk of COVID-19 or its severity, given the evidence of immunosuppression by some PFAS. The objective of this paper is to evaluate at the ecological level if a large area (Red Zone) of the Veneto Region, where residents were exposed for decades to drinking water contaminated by PFAS, showed higher mortality for COVID-19 than the rest of the region. Methods: We fitted a Bayesian ecological regression model with spatially and not spatially structured random components on COVID-19 mortality at the municipality level (period between 21 February and 15 April 2020). The model included education score, background all-cause mortality (for the years 2015–2019), and an indicator for the Red Zone. The two random components are intended to adjust for potential hidden confounders. Results: The COVID-19 crude mortality rate ratio for the Red Zone was 1.55 (90% Confidence Interval 1.25; 1.92). From the Bayesian ecological regression model adjusted for education level and baseline all-cause mortality, the rate ratio for the Red Zone was 1.60 (90% Credibility Interval 0.94; 2.51). Conclusion: In conclusion, we observed a higher mortality risk for COVID-19 in a population heavily exposed to PFAS, which was possibly explained by PFAS immunosuppression, bioaccumulation in lung tissue, or pre-existing disease being related to PFAS.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-7967461
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2021
publisher MDPI
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-79674612021-03-18 Exposure to Perfluoroalkyl Substances and Mortality for COVID-19: A Spatial Ecological Analysis in the Veneto Region (Italy) Catelan, Dolores Biggeri, Annibale Russo, Francesca Gregori, Dario Pitter, Gisella Da Re, Filippo Fletcher, Tony Canova, Cristina Int J Environ Res Public Health Article Background: In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is interest in assessing if per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) exposures are associated with any increased risk of COVID-19 or its severity, given the evidence of immunosuppression by some PFAS. The objective of this paper is to evaluate at the ecological level if a large area (Red Zone) of the Veneto Region, where residents were exposed for decades to drinking water contaminated by PFAS, showed higher mortality for COVID-19 than the rest of the region. Methods: We fitted a Bayesian ecological regression model with spatially and not spatially structured random components on COVID-19 mortality at the municipality level (period between 21 February and 15 April 2020). The model included education score, background all-cause mortality (for the years 2015–2019), and an indicator for the Red Zone. The two random components are intended to adjust for potential hidden confounders. Results: The COVID-19 crude mortality rate ratio for the Red Zone was 1.55 (90% Confidence Interval 1.25; 1.92). From the Bayesian ecological regression model adjusted for education level and baseline all-cause mortality, the rate ratio for the Red Zone was 1.60 (90% Credibility Interval 0.94; 2.51). Conclusion: In conclusion, we observed a higher mortality risk for COVID-19 in a population heavily exposed to PFAS, which was possibly explained by PFAS immunosuppression, bioaccumulation in lung tissue, or pre-existing disease being related to PFAS. MDPI 2021-03-08 /pmc/articles/PMC7967461/ /pubmed/33800362 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18052734 Text en © 2021 by the authors. 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 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Catelan, Dolores
Biggeri, Annibale
Russo, Francesca
Gregori, Dario
Pitter, Gisella
Da Re, Filippo
Fletcher, Tony
Canova, Cristina
Exposure to Perfluoroalkyl Substances and Mortality for COVID-19: A Spatial Ecological Analysis in the Veneto Region (Italy)
title Exposure to Perfluoroalkyl Substances and Mortality for COVID-19: A Spatial Ecological Analysis in the Veneto Region (Italy)
title_full Exposure to Perfluoroalkyl Substances and Mortality for COVID-19: A Spatial Ecological Analysis in the Veneto Region (Italy)
title_fullStr Exposure to Perfluoroalkyl Substances and Mortality for COVID-19: A Spatial Ecological Analysis in the Veneto Region (Italy)
title_full_unstemmed Exposure to Perfluoroalkyl Substances and Mortality for COVID-19: A Spatial Ecological Analysis in the Veneto Region (Italy)
title_short Exposure to Perfluoroalkyl Substances and Mortality for COVID-19: A Spatial Ecological Analysis in the Veneto Region (Italy)
title_sort exposure to perfluoroalkyl substances and mortality for covid-19: a spatial ecological analysis in the veneto region (italy)
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7967461/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33800362
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18052734
work_keys_str_mv AT catelandolores exposuretoperfluoroalkylsubstancesandmortalityforcovid19aspatialecologicalanalysisinthevenetoregionitaly
AT biggeriannibale exposuretoperfluoroalkylsubstancesandmortalityforcovid19aspatialecologicalanalysisinthevenetoregionitaly
AT russofrancesca exposuretoperfluoroalkylsubstancesandmortalityforcovid19aspatialecologicalanalysisinthevenetoregionitaly
AT gregoridario exposuretoperfluoroalkylsubstancesandmortalityforcovid19aspatialecologicalanalysisinthevenetoregionitaly
AT pittergisella exposuretoperfluoroalkylsubstancesandmortalityforcovid19aspatialecologicalanalysisinthevenetoregionitaly
AT darefilippo exposuretoperfluoroalkylsubstancesandmortalityforcovid19aspatialecologicalanalysisinthevenetoregionitaly
AT fletchertony exposuretoperfluoroalkylsubstancesandmortalityforcovid19aspatialecologicalanalysisinthevenetoregionitaly
AT canovacristina exposuretoperfluoroalkylsubstancesandmortalityforcovid19aspatialecologicalanalysisinthevenetoregionitaly