A troubling rise in chronic kidney disease is occurring across the globe, primarily targeting workers in low-income agricultural areas.
The country of Sri Lanka is particularly hard hit, reaching epidemic proportions with around 164,000 diagnosed with a form of the disease in 2020, although it's usually recognized as chronic kidney disease of unknown origin (CKDu).Â
What's happening?
As the New York Times detailed, working men in their 30s and 40s in Sri Lanka have shown late-stage kidney failure since the 1990s. Experts attribute this to multiple factors, spanning extreme heat due to the changing climate, frequent dehydration, and groundwater that's been contaminated by pesticide use.
"Sri Lanka has made the perfect case for how climate change is affecting people in real time," Nishad Jayasundara, an expert in global environmental health at Duke University, shared in the article.
Young men in similar scenarios from Nicaragua, El Salvador, and East Africa are facing the illness as well. In Ecuador, studies showed that 98% of adolescents working in the agriculture industry have high glyphosate levels, which is a common ingredient in pesticides and thought to damage the liver and kidneys.
Why is this disease so concerning?
Although this has been going on for years, it's clear not enough has been done to curb the advance of CKDu. While it's hitting low-income populations the hardest, similar problems have been cropping up around the world.
People in hotter climates were found to be more susceptible to CKD. The prevalence of microplastics in almost every aspect of our lives is troubling, too. A correlation between these tiny particles and CKD has already been established.
Ajith Pushpakumara is a 40-year-old rice farmer in Sri Lanka and the primary breadwinner for his family, the Times explained. He was advised to drink clean water and take care of his health after kidney issues were revealed 15 years ago, but his situation made it difficult. Now he's getting dialysis every four days.
"People keep writing about it," he shared in the article. "But why isn't anything happening?"
What's being done to solve the issue?
In regions like Sri Lanka, the government has begun to provide some filtered water to the population in an attempt to limit exposure to harmful chemicals. The government has also increased clinics to help those in need.
Elsewhere, breakthrough techniques have been employed to filter PFAS (sometimes called "forever chemicals") and other impurities from water supplies. Officials in the UK have also shared that the types of pesticides cited in this case are "absolutely unnecessary" for growing food.
Knowledge of the issue is only half the battle, as Pushpakumara made clear. Even small efforts in everyday life, such as reducing plastic use, employing natural non-toxic alternatives in agriculture, and choosing cleaner transportation solutions can make a difference.
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