INVESTIGATING THE POSSIBLE CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL CAUSES OF CHRONIC KIDNEY DISEASE IN EL SALVADOR, CENTRAL AMERICA

Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) has risen to an epidemic status in certain areas of Central America, especially in the Bajo Lempa region of El Salvador. Extreme ambient temperatures and/or the use of herbicides in the cultivation of sugar cane are the main suspected causes of the disease. Air temperatures registered by the national network of climatologic stations and the number of acres cultivated with sugar cane in each municipality of the country are used to establish meaningful statistical correlations between the number of deaths caused by CKD without Diabetes Mellitus recorded by national hospitals. In addition, soil, sediments, surface water and groundwater samples were collected in the Bajo Lempa region and will be analyzed for heavy metals and pesticides commonly used in the area. The sampling sites were selected considering the spatial distribution of working areas of the patients, the direction of groundwater flow, and the drainage patterns of the region. With these investigations, we expect to help in the solution of this environmental problem.