{"id":122171,"date":"2022-01-16T16:13:04","date_gmt":"2022-01-16T23:13:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=122171"},"modified":"2022-01-16T16:13:04","modified_gmt":"2022-01-16T23:13:04","slug":"a-critical-analysis-of-the-article-banned-pesticides-in-well-water-linked-to-declines-in-kidney-function-study","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2022\/01\/16\/a-critical-analysis-of-the-article-banned-pesticides-in-well-water-linked-to-declines-in-kidney-function-study\/","title":{"rendered":"A critical analysis of the article “Banned pesticides in well water linked to declines in kidney function: Study”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chandre Dharmawardana<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

The following article appeared in the newspaper morning.lk<\/strong>.I have added my comments in bold italic<\/em><\/strong> regarding the contents of the article.
Chandre DW<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nhttps:\/\/www.themorning.lk\/banned-pesticides-in-well-water-linked-to-declines-in-kidney-function-study\/\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Banned pesticides in well water linked to declines in kidney function: Study<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

By Beyond Pesticides<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Beyond Pesticides is a non-profit organisation headquartered in Washington, D.C., which works with allies in protecting public health and the environment to lead the transition to a world free of toxic pesticides)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well\nwater in agricultural regions of Sri Lanka is contaminated with highly\nhazardous insecticides and associated with a decline in kidney function,\naccording to research published in the npj Clean Water <\/em>journal this\nmonth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, these US researches did a one time-point analysis of pesticides, and detected some pesticides that do NOT persist for more than a day in the environment of the hot (30-36 Celsius) dry zone. \u00a0Local scientists (e.g., Aravinda et al, Jayasiri et al) have also made measurements of pesticides and have shown that the presence of such pesticides is highly sporadic and episodic.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The conclusions drawn by these US scientists have already been\ncriticized by other researchers as being highly unwarranted and indeed false.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This\nfinding is the latest piece in an ongoing puzzle\u201d regarding the epidemic of\nchronic kidney disease of unknown origins in Sri Lanka and other developing\ncountries in agricultural regions. Although the exact etiology of the disease\nhas not been confirmed, a number of scientific studies have pointed the finger\nat industrial agriculture, increasingly finding evidence of chronic pesticide\nexposure in affected populations.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Industrial agriculture is practiced everywhere in the country. The disease is found in some villages in the Dry Zone, interspersed with other villages that have NO CKDu even though they are agricultural villages. So the disease is UNCORRELATED with farming and agriculture.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To\nbetter understand the connection between agrichemical exposure and kidney\nhealth, researchers enrolled 293 individuals from Wilgamuwa, Sri Lanka into a\nprospective study. Baseline data was retrieved on occupational and\nenvironmental exposure factors, focusing on the water source individuals used\nat their homes. Samples of each participant\u2019s household wells were taken and\nanalysed for the presence of pesticides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of\nthe wells sampled, 68% were found to contain pesticides. Further, every well\nwhere pesticides were detected had at least one pesticide recorded above global\ndrinking water guidelines. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This fact that pesticides were detected during a single time-point analysis does NOT mean that these toxins are a persistent component of the water consumed by the people. Chronic toxicity is caused by the regular ingestion of small quantities of a toxin and not by sporadic injection. The scientists failed t o look at blood and urine to establish their case.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pesticides reported last about a day in the hot climate. If the\nwater is boiled they volatilize with the steam.  However, that such\nexcesses occur even sporadically shows that pesticides are being poorly handled\nby farmers, and the public health authorities should take action to control the\nmis-handling of pesticides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nchemicals found were also some of the most toxic pesticides to ever be sold,\nincluding the organochlorine insecticides DDT\/DDE, propanil, and endosulfan,\nand organophosphate diazinon. None of these chemicals are permitted for use in\nEurope or the US, and some like endosulfan are being phased out globally\nthrough the Stockholm Convention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indeed, these pesticides are not only nephrotoxic (i.e., affects the kidney), but they also damage the liver (hepatotoxic). \u00a0There should be strict regulations regarding their use. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sri Lanka, CKDu is not co-associated with hepatotoxicity. This means that the Sri Lankan CKDu is most unlikely to be caused by these pesticides. Furthermore, these pesticides cause glomerular damage of the kidney, where as in CKDiu we mostly see tubule-interstitial damage. That too is not consistent with the causation of the illness by these pesticides proposed by these researchers.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nstudy found that individuals reporting drinking well water during their\nlifetimes had a glomerular filtration rate (a measurement of kidney health)\nthat was significantly lower on average (6.7) than other individuals who never\ndrank well water, after accounting for differences in age and sex. Although\nthis study does not reveal causation, it provides strong evidence that water\ncontamination is playing a role in the development of the disease. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\nis likely that there is no single compound of concern but rather a multiple\nstressor interactor effect across environmental and agrochemical exposure,\nbehaviour, and clinical factors,\u201d the study reads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The study cannot make this conclusion regarding agrochemical exposure.\u00a0 The sampling of water was also done in the upper Mahaweli region south west of Wilgamuwa, and although many of those wells had pesticides, those villages did NOT have CKDU. The authors have conveniently ignored this important fact that goes against their hypothesis.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prior\nresearch has found a range of chemicals linked to kidney damage. Even among the\n40 most commonly used lawn care pesticides, the vast majority \u2013 32 \u2013 are\nassociated with damage to the kidney or liver. This includes widely used\nherbicides like glyphosate. In 2019, researchers Sararath Guanatilake (MD) and\nChanna Jayasumana (PhD) (who is the State Minister of  Production, Supply,\nand Regulation of Pharmaceuticals) were awarded the Freedom and Responsibility\nAward from the American Association of the Advancement of Science (AAAS) for\ntheir work uncovering the link between glyphosate and chronic kidney disease\n(CKD). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This award is now widely recognized to be an unfortunate mis-step by the AAAS. For details, see the write up by a Florida University scientist Dr. A. Bodnar<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/biofortified.org\/2019\/02\/aaas-award-misstep\/#comment-18224<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, neither this US study, nor the study of pesticide traces by Aravinda et al, or the study by Jayasiri et al found any glyphosate in the aquatic environment or soils. In fact, the WHO study did not find any glyphosate in the blood and urine of CKDu patients to within 97% accuracy.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\naward came as the two scientists had to defend their research from death\nthreats and claims of misconduct directly or indirectly from the agrochemical\nindustry, Bayer\/Monsanto in particular. In fact, after receiving the award, the\nBayer\/Monsanto bullying caused the AAAS to withdraw the prize and place the\naward under review. Ultimately, however, after a multi-month pause, the AAAS\ndecided to confirm the original award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who bullied whom can be understood by reading Dr. Jayasuman\u2019s book Wakugadu Hatana\u201d, and also reading about the mock trial of Monsanto-Bayer conducted by a French journalist. The trial was said to have been attended by Ven. Ratana and Dr. Jayasumana. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another\npesticide, malathion, has recently been cited for its close link to kidney\ndamage. A study published in October 2021 found significant associations with\nmalathion exposure, low kidney function, and increased risk of CKD. With\nresearchers now finding evidence that pesticide-contaminated well water may be\na source of kidney dysfunction, it is evident that more action should be taken\nto protect those in intensive agricultural areas from pesticide exposure. While\nthere is a desire to neatly separate bad from good actors in environmental\nmysteries\u201d, including CKD and the ongoing decline of pollinators, it is\nevident that in a world awash in chemicals, it is a combination of these\nfactors that is likely at play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\nmust act both locally and globally to shift away from our toxic reliance on\nhazardous chemicals to grow food we know can be grown without these chemicals.\nSri Lanka\u2019s Government recognised this and attempted to rapidly transition the\ncountry to more organic agriculture. However, reports indicate that the\napproach taken simply stopped government subsidies for chemical pesticides and\nfertilisers, without widespread education on new practices or support for\nalternative products (there is further indication that this decision was in\npart a response to lost tourism dollars from the Covid-19 pandemic). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Organic\nagriculture is about more than removing toxic pesticides and chemicals; it is a\nsystems-based approach that reorients crop production and pest management\ntowards soil health, increased diversity, and working with, rather than\nagainst, natural processes. While Sri Lanka\u2019s dive into organic was not\nsuccessful in this initial attempt, more and more farmers are now aware of the\ndangers and the need to transition to safer practices. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka\u2019s plunge into organic agriculture by a process of fear-mongering based on false conclusions (like those of this US study by Valhos et al) has boomeranged on itself. One needs tonnes of organic fertilizer to effectively replace kilograms of inorganic fertilizer.\u00a0 In the end, one hectare of paddy land cultivated organically cannot yield more than 1.5 to 2 tonnes of paddy in the best of circumstances. If conventional farming is used, the output per hectare is 4-5 tonnes of paddy. Even then Sri Lanka finds itself short of rice as significant amounts (some 30-40%) are lost during storage and distribution due to weevils, bugs, mold and unavoidable waste. Hence organic agriculture is a formula for famine until Sri Lanka\u2019s population stabilizes and decrease to more manageable levels. Organic agriculture that uses composting adds a very large load of green house gases and worsens the already precarious problem of global warming.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Major\nchanges rarely occur successfully all at once, but are often the result of many\ntrials, eventually embracing new approaches once education and practices are\nfurther developed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The trails must be first conducted in a limited scale and the possibility of success has to be established. You cannot experiment with the lives of vast numbers of people by putting their lives at risk. Such agricultural experiments were conducted under Stalin when Lysenko attempted to introduce what was known as Marxist agriculture\u201d, and this led to vast famines and deaths. The Soviet Union became a major importer of US wheat. Sri Lanka is likely to become a major importer of food stuffs grown in other countries using conventional agriculture, while claiming to practice organic agriculture.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As\nthe present study shows, Sri Lanka\u2019s work to reduce and eliminate toxic\nchemical use is important for its citizens\u2019 health; with hope the country will\nlearn from its mistakes and continue efforts to increase adoption of organic\nagriculture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The present study (by Vlahos et al) shows nothing except the haste and the incompetence of the scientists who led the study in drawing unwarranted conclusions from meagre data. The data show NO CORRELATION between CKDu and agrochemicals.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A recent comment on this flawed study may be found in the research paper<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Comment on\n“Water sources and kidney function: investigating chronic kidney disease\nof unknown etiology in a prospective study”, by P. Vlahos et al<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

available from the Cornell University preprint archive.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026\u2026<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of\nthe author, and do not necessarily reflect those of this publication)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chandre Dharmawardana The following article appeared in the newspaper morning.lk.I have added my comments in bold italic regarding the contents of the article. Chandre DW Banned pesticides in well water linked to declines in kidney function: Study By Beyond Pesticides (Beyond Pesticides is a non-profit organisation headquartered in Washington, D.C., which works with allies in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[85],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-122171","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chandre-dharmawardana"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122171","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=122171"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122171\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}