ArticleBMC nephrology2019
A quantitative analysis of chronic exposure of selected heavy metals in a model diet in a CKD hotspot in Sri Lanka.
Article in BMC nephrology, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 41 citations in OpenAlex.
- Quality and sources of food and water consumed by people with chronic kidney disease of unknown etiology in Sri Lanka: a systematic review.Journal of nephrology · 2025Pooled it
- Metal(loid) Occurrence, Possible Source Patterns, and Screening-Level Human Health Risk in Dried Fish from Thailand.Biological trace element research · 2026Article
- Chronic Kidney Disease of Unknown Etiology: A Global Health Threat in Rural Agricultural Communities-Prevalence, Suspected Causes, Mechanisms, and Prevention Strategies.Pathophysiology : the official journal of the International Society for Pathophysiology · 2024Review
- Glyphosate and fluoride in high-hardness drinking water are positively associated with chronic kidney disease of unknown etiology (CKDu) in Sri Lanka.Environmental science & technology letters · 2023Article
- Chronic kidney disease of unknown etiology in India: a comparative study with Mesoamerican and Sri Lankan nephropathy.Environmental science and pollution research international · 2022Review
- Two decades of chronic kidney disease of unknown aetiology (CKDu) research: Existing evidence and persistent gaps from epidemiological studies in Sri Lanka.Nephrology (Carlton, Vic.) · 2022Review
- Article
- Development of a sensitive direct injection LC-MS/MS method for the detection of glyphosate and aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA) in hard waters.Analytical and bioanalytical chemistry · 2021Article
- Donnan Membrane Process for the Selective Recovery and Removal of Target Metal Ions-A Mini Review.Membranes · 2021Review
- CKD of Unknown Origin in Supebeda, Chhattisgarh, India.Kidney international reports · 2021Article
- Evidence of selected nephrotoxic elements in Sri Lankan human autopsy bone samples of patients with CKDu and controls.BMC nephrology · 2020Article
- Longitudinal trends in renal function among first time sugarcane harvesters in Guatemala.PloS one · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundEvidence of chronic low levels of exposure to heavy metals in Sri Lanka has emerged in a number of studies carried out in the recent past. The source and magnitude of such exposures have to be understood in order to assess the risk of adverse health effects of this exposure and to propose suitable public health interventions.
methodsAn assessment was carried out to quantify chronic exposure to cadmium, lead and arsenic through food in people living in an area in Sri Lanka, where prevalence of Chronic Kidney Disease of unknown origin (CKDu) is highest. First a dietary survey was carried out in the subjects to estimate the type and quantity of typical food items in order to estimate an average consumption. A model diet was formulated using this dietary consumption data; and this was thereafter used for estimation of chronic dietary exposure of selected contaminants. In parallel, the levels of contaminants of interest in the various identified food items: cadmium, lead and arsenic, were determined.
resultsAssuming the major route of intake is food, and based on the quantity and type of food items consumed, a 60 kg man is exposed to average doses of 83.7 μg cadmium, 924.1 μg lead, and 180.3 μg arsenic per week. The impact of chronic lead exposure was affirmed by a mean blood lead level of 3.0 μg/dL, with a maximum level of 8.8 μg/dL being observed in some cases.
conclusionsChronic low dose exposure of lead from food appears to be a public health concern in the studied population. Cadmium exposure through food appears to be of concern also. However, arsenic exposure through food appears to be within safe limits. As there are numbers of possible adverse health outcomes that can be associated with such estimated exposures of heavy metals, public health interventions are warranted to limit the described harmful exposures. Advocacy on dietary patterns and agronomic practices to lower the contaminants identified are the two broad strategies suggested.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.