Over the last two decades, tens of thousands of people living in rural Sri Lanka have been affected by an epidemic. kidney failureKnown as CKDu, for reasons that seem unclear. At the same time, strange cases of kidney diseases appeared in tropical farming communities around the world.
Field study of wells providing drinking water In a study conducted on Sri Lankan communities by researchers at Duke University, Possible culprit: glyphosateActive compound in RoundupIt is the most used herbicide in the world and also in Spain.
The results of the research were published at: Environmental Science and Technology Letters last September.
Roundup is a glyphosate-based herbicide. used to control weeds and other pests. Because it is expected to break down in the environment within a few days or weeks, its use is relatively unregulated by most public health agencies.
However, when glyphosate encounters certain metal ions that harden water, such as magnesium and calcium, glyphosate metal ion complexes can form. AND These compounds can remain in water for up to seven years and in soil for up to 22 years.According to researchers.
“This chemical was always thought to break down very quickly in the environment, but it appears it lingers much longer.” “We have to consider how glyphosate interacts with these other elements and what happens to that product as it enters the body as a complex,” said Nishad Jayasundara, Juli Plant Grainger Assistant Professor of Global Environment at Duke University.
Up to 10 percent of children are affected
In certain agricultural areas of Sri Lanka, high and dry climate combined with geological conditions, Perfect conditions for hard water. CKDu kidney failure has also reached epidemic levels in these regions: up to 10% of children ages 5 to 11 show signs of early-onset kidney damage.
Jayasundara, originally from Sri Lanka, believed Glyphosate may play an important role in the incidence of this disease Despite the fact that Sri Lanka has banned the use of the herbicide in question due to the hardness of the region’s water.
To test his hypothesis, Jayasundara teamed up with two other chemists: Lee Ferguson and Jake Ulrich. In collaboration with Mangala De Silva, a professor at the University of Ruhuna in Sri Lanka, the Duke team sampled more than 200 wells in four regions of Sri Lanka.
Ferguson’s lab at Duke uses high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry to identify contaminants, even their smallest traces, by their molecular weight. It is a highly sensitive identification and quantification method that allows comprehensive detection of contaminants present in a water system.
Up to 44% higher levels
Thanks to this technique, Researchers found significantly higher levels of herbicide in 44% of wells Within the affected regions, this rate is only 8% outside these regions.
“In this case, we focused on drinking water, but there may be other significant routes of exposure.” [al glifosato]: HE Direct contact with agricultural workers spraying pesticides, or perhaps through food or dust“Ferguson explained. “I would like to see more studies that focus more on these exposure pathways. “It seems like there are still things we are missing,” he added.
Ulrich also found high levels of fluoride and vanadium (both linked to kidney damage) in the drinking water of many communities with high incidence of CKDu. Researchers agree on this More attention should be paid to the impact of each of these pollutants, alone or in combination with others.
Scientists believe these results should serve as a serious warning about the risk posed by exposure to glyphosate.
Part of Ferguson’s concern is this: The properties of glyphosate are similar to those of another pollutant studied in the nearby environment: substances called perfluorinated substances, or PFAS.Also known as “forever chemicals” due to their high persistence in the environment.
“We believe PFASs are drinking water contaminants because they are mobile and persistent. We now realize that glyphosate can also be quite persistent in hard water areas,” Ferguson said.
Reference work: DOI: 10.1021/acs.estlett.3c00504
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