Association of Pesticides and Kidney Function among Adults in the US Population 2001-2010.

En-Tzu Wan,Shamshad Karatela,Simon A Reid,Darsy Darssan,Nicholas John Osborne

doi:10.3390/ijerph181910249

Abstract

Chronic kidney disease of unknown cause is prevalent in a range of communities; however, its etiology remains unclear. We examined the association between pesticide exposures and the risk of kidney function loss using four waves of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) to identify a pathological pathway. We pooled data from four cross-sectional waves of NHANES, with 41,847 participants in total. Exposure to malathion increased the risk of low kidney function (aOR = 1.26, 95% CI = 1.01–1.56) in the adjusted model. Increased risk of low kidney function was not found among those exposed to 2,4-D (aOR = 0.88, 95% CI = 0.72–1.09), 3,5,6-trichloropyridinol (aOR = 0.96, 95% CI = 0.83–1.12), and 3-PBA (aOR = 1.03, 95% CI = 0.94–1.13). Our findings provide evidence of altered kidney function in people exposed to malathion, highlighting the potential of organophosphate pesticides’ role in renal injury.

Highlights

The objective of this study was to examine the association between pesticide exposure and the risk of kidney function loss using four waves of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) to elucidate a potential pathological pathway
We examined if exposure to pesticides was associated with kidney dysfunction, such as Chronic kidney disease (CKD) and acute kidney injury, while adjusting for a range of risk factors
This study provides evidence that exposure to OP malathion increases the risk of low kidney function in the general US population

Summary

Introduction

Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a condition of permanent nephron damage and renal function loss [1]. Classic risk factors of CKD, such as hypertension (HTN) and diabetes (DM), account for most of the CKD burden in high-income countries [1]. Numerous cases of CKD have emerged with unknown etiology (CKDu, definition of exclusion, i.e., no HTN nor DM or other) in tropical countries, as most of the affected patients are asymptomatic or have mild symptoms of elevated serum creatinine levels, low-grade or no proteinuria, or chronic interstitial nephritis with variable glomerulosclerosis [2,3]

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