The persistence of the COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated the development and widespread availability of methods to detect the COVID-19 virus in humans. COVID-19 tests, which were initially only available in healthcare facility settings, are now manufactured for home use in the form of rapid diagnostic tests and generally contain a nasal swab, reagent solution, and test device (e.g., card or strip). These kits typically involve application of reagent solution to the test device; in the presence of biological material obtained from the nasal swab, this initiates a chemical reaction that produces the test result.
Multiple COVID-19 rapid antigen home test kids, including those manufactured by Abbott (BinaxNOW™), Beckton, Dickinson and Company (BD Veritor™), Celltrion (Celltrion DiaTrust™), and ACON Laboratories (Flowflex™), contain sodium azide as a component of the reagent solution [[1], [2], [3]]. The reagent in some kits may contain other constituents, including Triton-X, inorganic phosphate, and Pro-Clin 300. The latter ingredients are unlikely to cause human toxicity if small amounts are ingested, but they may cause allergic reactions or local irritation after ocular or dermal exposure. However, sodium azide is well-known for its ability to cause harmful effects in humans, especially after oral exposures and potentially including the ingestion of reagent solution. Additionally, since the reagent solution packaging may include ampules that allow for application of drops of solution to the test device, inadvertent ocular sodium azide exposures can occur if the ampule is mistaken for an eyedropper.
Sodium azide is a water-soluble, tasteless, and odorless chemical that is commonly used as a preservative agent [4]. It is also found as a propellant in some automobile airbags; upon impact, sodium azide ignites and transforms into hydrocarbon gases that cause airbag expansion [5]. Although data concerning acute sodium azide toxicity in humans are limited, the chemical can cause serious adverse events after oral exposure to relatively low doses….
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