Flawed Analysis: Prof. Dharmawardana on CKDu and Glyposate

Prof. Dharmawardana has an article that dismisses links between CKDu, glyphosate and chemical fertilizers.  However this analysis is severely flawed.

To quote Prof. Dharmawardana:

New Zealand is one of the biggest users of synthetic fertilizer, applying 1700 kg/hectare in 2012. Other comparative figures (per hectare, World Bank data) are, Malaysia,1600, Singapore 3400, Holland 300, India 165, Sri Lanka 198, Nicaragua 50. Both Nicaragua and Sri Lanka have chronic kidney disease of unknown origin (CKDu). There are similar trends for glyphosate (herbicide) use. While Nicaragua uses very little fertilizer and glyphosate, New Zealand which uses more than 34 times has no CKDu.

The proposed link (e.g. Jayasumana et al (2014) ) is between hard (Ca++ and Mg++) ground water used for drinking and glyphosate and chemical fertilizer use in surrounding areas.

The flawed analysis of Prof. Dharmawardana ignores
a) New Zealand has high rainfall and rural communities use rain water collected from roofs for drinking purposes.
b) Sri Lanka does not have a CKDu problem is the wet zone.
c) Jaffna which has hard ground water has low incidence of CKDu because agro chemicals were prohibited during the war.

Related Links

Chronic Kidney Disease: Cause Hard Water + Heavy Metals + RoundUp

Groundwater Depletion, Chronic Kidney Disease (CKDu) and Jaffna .