How to identify confunders covariates in metagenomic analysis

Question

[Lila M]

Dear all, I'm working with metagenomic data (OTUs). I've alreade have the zero inflated matrix and an aditional matrix with more than 80 covariates. By using MaAsLin (https://github.com/biobakery/Maaslin2) I would like to identify the significant metagenomic species associated with clinical covarietes. But before that, I would like to adjust accounting for potentially confounding covariates, but unfortunately, I don't know how to identify those confunding variables. Can any one help me with this, please?

Thank you!