Roundup Weedkiller Linked To Global
Epidemic of Fatal Kidney Disease
Written By: Sayer Ji, Founder
Photo credit: Ed
Kashi for La Isla Foundation/VII
The mystery of what is causing thousands to
die each year from a fatal kidney disease may now be solved, with evidence
pointing to the world's most heavily used herbicide Roundup (glyphosate) as the
primary culprit.
A new study published in the International Journal of
Environmental Research and Public Health proposes a link between the
herbicide known as Roundup (aka glyphosate) and a series of
mysterious epidemics of fatal chronic kidney disease of unknown origin (CKDu)
affecting several poor farming regions around the world.
The extent of the health problem is so massive that the Center for Public Integrity found that
CKDu has killed more people in El Salvador and Nicaragua than diabetes, AIDS
and leukemia combined, over the past 5 years on record.
Titled, "Glyphosate,
Hard Water and Nephrotoxic Metals: Are They the Culprits Behind the Epidemic of
Chronic Kidney Disease of Unknown Etiology in Sri Lanka?,"
researchers hypothesized that while glyphosate is toxic, it alone is not
capable of destroying kidney tissue on the scale recently observed in rice
paddy regions of Northern Sri Lanka, or in El Salvador where it is the second
leading cause of death among men. They propose glyphosate becomes extremely
toxic to the kidney when it mixes with 'hard' water or heavy metals like
arsenic and cadmium, either naturally present in the soil or added externally
through fertilizer inputs. Hard water contains 'metals,' such as calcium,
magnesium, strontium and iron, along with carbonate, bicarbonate, sulphate and chlorides.
The new hypothesis explains a number of observations connected
with the disease, including why in afflicted regions like Sri Lanka there has
been a strong association between the consumption of hard water and the
occurrence of this special kidney disease, with 96% of CKDu patients having
consumed hard or very hard water for at least five years.
The image below shows how closely water hardness and the
prevalence of CKDu overlap:
The
discovery of a 'new disease'
According to the study, a "Chronic Kidney Disease of Unknown etiology (CKDu)"
was discovered among the rice paddy farms in Northern Central Province of Sri
Lanka in the mid-1990s. The condition spread quickly to other farming
areas, and now afflicts 15% of working age people in the northern part of the
country, or a total population of 400,000 patients with an estimated death toll
of around 20,000. Watch the videos "Mystery in the Fields" and "Cycle of Death" for 5 minute
documentaries providing additional background information on afflicted areas
around the world.
CKDu does not carry the same known risk factors as chronic kidney
disease, which include diabetes, high blood pressure and glomerular nephritis,
an inflammatory kidney condition. The Sri Lankan Ministry of Health introduced
criteria for CKDu in 2009, including:
1.
No past history of, or current treatment for diabetes mellitus or
chronic and/or severe hypertension, snake bites, urological disease of known
etiology or glomerulonephritis.
2.
Normal glycosylated hemoglobin levels (HbA1C ˂ 6.5%).
3.
Blood pressure ˂160/100 mmHg untreated or ˂140/90 mmHg on up to two
antihypertensive agents.
Owing to the fact that geographical and socioeconomical factors
play such a central role in determining risk, it has been assumed that
environmental and occupational factors are the main causative agents and
therefore that CKDu is a form of toxic nephropathy, i.e. chemically-induced
damage. The authors point out that even the World Health Organization conducted
studies to determine the origin of CKDu, and that the general consensus
is the disease as multiple causes, including:
·
Exposure to arsenic
·
Exposure to cadmium
·
Exposure to pesticides
·
Consumption of hard water
·
Low water intake
·
Exposure to high temperatures (and resultant dehydration)
The authors, however, propose: "Whatever hypothesis that is
propounded should be able to answer the questions as to why CKDu is confined to
certain geographical areas of Sri Lanka and why there was no CKDu in Sri Lanka
prior to the 1990s."
Roundup
Weedkiller (Glyphosate) The Likely Culprit
The study goes on to detail how since 1977 political changes in
Sri Lanka lead to large scale importation and application of agrochemicals,
especially for rice paddy farming. They propose that 12-15 years of cumulative
exposure to low concentration kidney-damaging compounds, along with their
increasing bioaccumulation within the environment and human body, could explain
the sudden appearance in the 1990's of clinically identifiable CKDu. They
hypothesized the existence of a so-called Compound "X" as the
incriminating agent, which they determined would have to have the following
characteristics:
·
A compound made of recently (2–3 decades) introduced chemicals to
the CKDu endemic area.
·
Ability to form stable complexes with hard water.
·
Ability to capture and retain arsenic and nephrotoxic metals and
act as a "carrier"
in delivering these toxins to the kidney.
·
Possible multiple routes of exposure: ingestion, dermal and
respiratory absorption.
·
Not having a significant first pass effect when complexed with
hard water.
·
Presenting difficulties in identification when using conventional
analytical methods.
Following an extensive search they arrived at glyphosate, which is
the most widely used herbicide in Sri Lanka, as the likely culprit. They
describe how glyphosate's half-life can increase from several weeks in normal
water to many years in hard water, as it forms hard to biodegrade
glyphosate-metal complexes (GMCs). GMC exposure can happen in two ways:
consumption of contaminated hard water, or it can form within the human body
following glyphosate's entry into circulation. Farmers (and their families) are
at constant risk of exposure through skin or inhalation, in addition to
untreated drinking water.
The study describes in depth the way in which GMCs may evade the
liver's detoxification mechanisms and damage the kidneys. This is in addition
to the over 20 distinct modes of toxicity we have indexed on the
GreenMedInfo.com database on glyphosate harms.
Finally, the authors discuss evidence that glyphosate may be
behind similar epidemics of chronic kidney disease of unknown cause in Central
American countries of El Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica, and
India.
To read the entire open access study visit this link: www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/11/2/2125
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