Jayasumana Channa, Fonseka Saranga, Fernando Ashvin, Jayalath Kumudika, Amarasinghe Mala, Siribaddana Sisira, Gunatilake Sarath, Paranagama Priyani
Faculty of Medicine & Allied Sciences, Rajarata University of Sri Lanka, Saliyapura, 50008 Sri Lanka.
Faculty of Science, University of Kelaniya, Colombo, 11600 Sri Lanka.
Springerplus. 2015 Feb 24;4:90. doi: 10.1186/s40064-015-0868-z. eCollection 2015.
Chronic Kidney Disease of unknown etiology (CKDu) has escalated into an epidemic in North Central Province (NCP) and adjacent farming areas in the dry zone of Sri Lanka. Studies have shown that this special type of CKD is a toxic nephropathy and arsenic may play a causative role along with a number of other heavy metals. We investigated the hypothesis that chemical fertilizers and pesticide could be a source of arsenic. 226 samples of Fertilizers and 273 samples of pesticides were collected and analyzed using atomic absorption spectrometry and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry for arsenic and other heavy metals in two university laboratories. Almost all the agrochemicals available to the farmers in the study area are contaminated with arsenic. The highest amount was in triple super phosphate (TSP) with a mean value of 31 mg/kg. Also TSP is a rich source of other nephrotoxic metals including Cr, Co, Ni, Pb and V. Annually more than 0.1 million tons of TSP is imported to Sri Lanka containing approximately 2100 kg of arsenic. The next highest concentration was seen in the rock phosphate obtained from an open pit mine in NCP (8.56 mg/kg). Organic fertilizer contained very low amounts of arsenic. Arsenic contamination in pesticides varied from 0.18 mg/kg to 2.53 mg/kg although arsenic containing pesticides are banned in Sri Lanka. Glyphosate the most widely used pesticide in Sri Lanka contains average of 1.9 mg/kg arsenic. Findings suggest that agrochemicals especially phosphate fertilizers are a major source of inorganic arsenic in CKDu endemic areas. Organic fertilizer available in Sri Lanka is comparatively very low in arsenic and hence the farmers in CKDu endemic areas in Sri Lanka should be encouraged to minimize the use of imported chemical fertilizer and use organic fertilizers instead.
不明病因的慢性肾脏病(CKDu)在斯里兰卡干旱地区的中北部省份(NCP)及邻近农业区已演变成一种流行病。研究表明,这种特殊类型的CKD是一种中毒性肾病,砷可能与其他多种重金属一起发挥致病作用。我们调查了化肥和农药可能是砷源的这一假设。在两个大学实验室中,采集了226份化肥样本和273份农药样本,并使用原子吸收光谱法和电感耦合等离子体质谱法分析其中的砷及其他重金属。研究区域内农民可获得的几乎所有农用化学品都被砷污染。含量最高的是重过磷酸钙(TSP),平均值为31毫克/千克。此外,TSP还是包括铬、钴、镍、铅和钒在内的其他肾毒性金属的丰富来源。每年有超过10万吨的TSP进口到斯里兰卡,其中含有约2100千克的砷。其次是从NCP露天矿获得的磷矿石,砷浓度为8.56毫克/千克。有机肥中的砷含量非常低。尽管斯里兰卡已禁止使用含砷农药,但农药中的砷污染量在0.18毫克/千克至2.53毫克/千克之间。斯里兰卡使用最广泛的农药草甘膦平均含砷量为1.9毫克/千克。研究结果表明,农用化学品尤其是磷肥是CKDu流行地区无机砷的主要来源。斯里兰卡现有的有机肥砷含量相对很低,因此应鼓励斯里兰卡CKDu流行地区的农民尽量减少进口化肥的使用,转而使用有机肥。