– we must get to the heart of the
issue, not just sticking plaster to stop a nose bleed!
It appears that Reverse Osmosis systems
in the Rajarata are the rage. Temples, Schools, Community Centers have been
supplied with RO systems, by well-meaning NGOs and charitable organizations as
well as CSR projects of well-known companies.
It has been thought that the water in
the Rajarata and similar places was contaminated by heavy metals, such as lead,
arsenic, flouride and cadmium, as the hard water there tested for traces of
heavy metals, seem to show this in the water. This was then pointed out as the
PROBABLE cause of the CKDU epidemic in the Rajarata.
I have a home in the Rajarata, almost in
the thick of high incidence of CKDU, where Medirigiriya is but 10km away from
my home. While, the tank in my village of Ratmale is fed by a rain fed tank,
and my well from which three villages come to take their drinking water uses
the water table created by the Tank, Medirigiriya is cultivated by the Kaudulla
Tank, which has water filling it from Kandy via the Mahaweli and Polgolla, that
is Hill Country run-off, but now with the advent of the Moragahakanda Project
is able to get that water via a canal that comes from the Minneriya Tank that
can also be fed from Moragahakanda as well as the Polgolla water.
My previous blog entry: http://kalpanakaranna.blogspot.com/2018/03/if-we-eat-american-rice-for-two-years.html
alluded to excess consumption of tainted rice from highly toxic fields as the
probable cause, due to the evidence of the hot spots where disease was
prevalent, so no amount of RO water is going to eliminate the core problem.
Yes drinking more water flushes the
kidneys and is a recommended means to improvement of health. However the
removal of the goodness of micronutrients which are also essential in cleaning the
body of these unwanted metals, is NOT in the RO systems that are being installed.
There are private RO systems that have
been heavily advertised, as being able to retain essential micronutrients, but
we need some proper independent study to determine if what is retained is sufficient
or is in keeping with the levels obtained in normal water, that people drink,
as a minimum!
So please DO NOT FOOL our innocent rural
population into a FALSE SENSE OF SECURITY, by thinking that the 25cents a liter
they pay for their RO drinking water is going to solve their anxiety, as it is
a CRUEL HOAX.
7 comments:
The massive and highly profitable RO industry is going to kill you for this!
Everything plays a part in health, and too much of anything is toxic. Even water.
So though people come out with numerous reasons for this CKDU and now say a combination of factors contribute, we must isolate the one that is not common, and unique to the areas of high incidence of CKDU only.
So fluoride levels are high in other areas, people sweat and drink less water in yet other areas, and people drink kasippu also, and people chew betal leaf and chunam that is calcium carbonate. Then there are other areas of arsenic, lead and cadmium toxicity that do not result in CKDU. SO it is logical to find the common denominator and not say they all contribute to the cause as it is simply a cop out NOT addressing the problem that could kill a whole generation in those affected areas.
It is the duty of the Country to approach this in a sensible manner, and involve all stakeholders as well as people in different fields of specialization, so that all their inputs can be analysed and assessed as to contribution to this or not.
I believe a close study must be made of the daily consumption pattern of all food, analyse the amount of impurities on a daily basis using available data, and then one can come to a conclusion on how much of toxic minerals or heavy metals a person consumes and then weigh that over the ability of a kidney to excrete the impurities out of the human body. A well thought out process, I am sure will achieve the desired objective without too much delay.
We have wasted far too many years chasing red herrings, this is a thread worth pursuing. Funding will be made available if you know how to ask, from top Universities of the world, as it is a Global problem.
Don't expect drug companies to help, they want a problem to provide medicine, not a solution, where people become healthy!
LETS FACE IT – the long term use of phosphate fertilizers increased Cd contents of soils, though this increase does not necessarily increase the Cd concentration of plants grown in that soil.
There are specific levels of Cd in each type of plant, with Lotus Root having one of the highest Cd contents, BUT as we eat very little of it, there is lower overall level coming from this food into the body, unlike rice, which if we eat excessive amounts, which is the problem of farmers and their wives, (three full rice meals a day) is where you have an excess of Cd in contaminated soils getting into the bloodstream which the Kidneys over time cannot FLUSH out resulting in CKDU.
No amount of RO water is going to do the flushing as it is Cd in the food and NOT the Cd in contaminated water that is more potent. You need to drink tonnes of water that has Cd for your kidneys to find it difficult to flush, while the concentrated Cd in rice, if eaten too much is too hard on the kidneys to cope with.
Surely can't people understand this simple explanation and why have people being fooled for so long in this elementary assessment of the problem and the possible solutions we have to resolve it once and for all. It is lives that are at stake after all and why are we playing political football with the lives of our people?
BRAVO BRAVO BRAVO - the headlines should read - " A farmer in Polonnaruwa has finally put to rest the CKDU which experts for 10 years have been arguing about"
But no it will not happen like that because we have people in high places who don't understand where credit should be given when it is due in a case like this.
Well done to break this myth perpetrated by interested parties for personal gain.
A million saved from certain death - Media its all yours
It sounds as if the extensive use of RO systems, where even the triforces got in on the act, is of little use to the people drinking this water, which they have to buy. That is a serious matter, as people do believe it may be the answer to their concerns.
When they realize it is of no use, how would you feel if you were one of them? It is better to publicize this and take effective action immediately to tell the people it is the food they eat that they must change. That is going to be difficult, but if it is a life and death issue there is just no choice
Its interesting that on world water day, today, March 22nd RO filtration systems have been rejected as being of limited use!
Post a Comment