High Pesticide Levels In The Human Body - Linked To Chronic Kidney Disorders

A number of studies from Sri Lanka, El Salvador, Central America, and Mexico, have brought to light that patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) have high levels of pesticides in their body. A study from the national capital of India, Delhi, is a recent addition to this list. This study published in the journal Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine has set the alarm ringing loud. In this report, Bhavya Khullar discusses the possible link between CKD and high levels of organochlorine pesticides found in the bodies of patients in some recent studies that associate pesticide levels with kidney disorder. These alarming findings raise a big question mark on the widespread use of these pesticides.

- Bhavya Khullar

Doctors have reported high levels of organochlorine pesticides in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). The study done with a group of 300 individuals who visited the University College of Medical Sciences and Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital in Delhi between January 2014 and March 2015 is in agreement with studies from the West. “We found that patients with CKD had higher levels of three organochlorine pesticides—beta-endosulphan, aldrin, and alpha-HCH in their blood,” Ashok Kumar Tripathi, professor at the University College of Medical Sciences, University of Delhi, said. His team found high levels of pesticides in patients with CKD as compared to samples from healthy individuals. The individuals aged 30 to 54 years were tested for the presence of nine types of organochlorine pesticides in their blood. These were alpha and beta endosulphan, DDT, DDE, dieldrin, aldrin, and alpha, beta, and gamma HCH (hexachlorocyclohexane). Many of these pesticides are routinely used in agriculture to eliminate plant pests. Professor Tripathi added that finding pesticides in patients suggested a possible involvement of pesticides with abnormal kidney function and development of the disease. He now plans to do follow-up studies with a larger group of people to find the mechanism by which organochlorine pesticides may be affecting kidneys in CKD. His team believes that accumulated pesticides may induce oxidative stress in the kidneys, which leads to CKD. But this hypothesis is yet to be elucidated.

Dangers from CKD