South-West: Prolonged pesticide use accounts for rise in kidney failures in farming communities — Study

EXPERTS say that chronic kidney disease is assuming an epidemic proportion, especially in farming communities worldwide, due to the prolonged use of agrochemicals on an annual basis.

In a new study, the researchers, who reported increased markers of kidney damage among farmers in rural communities in south-western Nigeria due to agrochemical exposure, said the prolonged use of agrochemicals on an annual basis can cause kidney damage.

The study had 438 farmers, 202 males and 236 females, from farming communities in south-western Nigeria where the use of agrochemicals was widespread. Anthropometric data, information on the use of agrochemicals, urine and blood samples were obtained.

The study found that they had an abnormally increased excretion rate of albumin, a blood protein, in their urine that is suggestive of microalbuminuria, a condition that is caused by kidney damage. The majority of the farmers had chronic kidney disease (CKD) stage 2(42.0 per cent) and CKD stage 3 (37.7 per cent). Kidney damage can cause proteins to leak through the kidneys and exit the body in the urine.

Chronic kidney disease also known as chronic kidney failure means a gradual loss of kidney function over time. It is a longstanding disease of the kidneys leading to kidney failure. The kidneys filter waste and excess fluid from the blood. As kidneys fail, waste builds up.

According to the researchers, the type of farming engaged in had a positive, but not significant, correlation with estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), an estimate of how well the kidneys are working and keeping healthy. If the GFR number is low, the kidneys are not working as well as they should.

The 2021 study in the West African Journal of Medicine, entitled “Exposure to Agrochemicals and Markers of Kidney Damage among Farmers in Rural Communities in Southwestern Nigeria”, said that there was positive correlation between the type of farming and GFR category.

In addition, the frequency of use of hexachlorocyclohexane had a positive and significant correlation with eGFR. Annual crop farming had a correlation with albumin-to-creatinine ratio (UACR), also a measure of kidney damage used in assessing and monitoring urine albumin.

Hexachlorocyclohexane also called lindane or gammallin is used as an insecticide on fruit and vegetable crops. Its use was widely accepted in agriculture and for the treatment of parasites in animals and humans. In humans, lindane affects the nervous system, liver, and kidneys and may well be a cancer promoter.

Due to its persistent nature and bio-accumulative properties, along with its toxicity to non-targeted organisms, it has emerged as a global environmental pollutant.

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