Chronic Kidney Disease: Environmental Health Perspectives
This paper examines chronic kidney disease (CKD) through an environmental health and safety lens, drawing on a National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences study of agricultural workers in El Salvador. It outlines the prevalence of CKD in the United States—affecting an estimated 30 million Americans—and identifies key risk factors including diabetes, hypertension, obesity, diet, genetics, and environmental chemical exposures such as herbicides. The paper discusses how the disease affects public health practice, emphasizing the need for health education and ongoing research, and argues that environmental public health professionals are uniquely positioned to raise community awareness, inform policy, and promote preventive care strategies that reduce CKD risk.
- Background: NIEHS study on herbicides and kidney disease
- Importance of the Topic: CKD prevalence and key risk factors
- How the Program Impacts Public Health Practice: Education, research, and dietary awareness needs
- How Environmental Public Professionals Can Improve Community Health: Professional role in prevention and policy
- Conclusion: Preventive care and community health benefits
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What makes this paper effective
- Uses a real NIEHS-funded research program as an anchoring case study, grounding abstract concepts in a concrete, real-world example.
- Connects individual health risk factors (diet, diabetes, hypertension) to broader environmental and structural conditions, demonstrating systems-level thinking.
- Clearly explains the professional role of environmental public health workers without overstating their authority, maintaining an appropriately measured tone throughout.
- Employs an accessible analogy (road salt damaging a car) to explain kidney damage from high blood sugar, making clinical content approachable for a general audience.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates applied synthesis: it weaves together epidemiological data, clinical risk factors, and environmental science to build a multi-causal argument about CKD. Rather than treating each factor in isolation, the author consistently shows how variables such as diet, chemical exposure, and socioeconomic environment interact, which is a hallmark of environmental public health reasoning.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with background on CKD and introduces the NIEHS study as its programmatic focus. It then establishes the topic's significance through prevalence statistics and risk factor analysis. A dedicated section addresses how the featured program shapes public health practice, and a final substantive section argues for the specific value of the environmental professional's perspective in promoting community health. The paper closes with a brief integrative conclusion drawn from the body sections.
Background
According to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS, 2018), chronic kidney disease is one condition that environmental health and safety professionals are examining more closely in order to better understand how the environment factors into its onset. Chronic kidney disease is characterized as the failure of the kidneys to filter waste and excess fluid from the blood (Mayo Clinic, 2018). Without the efficient functioning of the kidneys, the body's stability and overall health are threatened. Heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and anemia are all possible outcomes that an individual may experience as a result of kidney failure.
As there are more than 200,000 cases of chronic kidney disease every year (Mayo Clinic, 2018), this is a serious problem deserving of study—especially since the etiology of chronic kidney disease remains somewhat unknown. One project funded by the NIEHS (2018) that focuses on understanding chronic kidney disease is a research study titled "Longitudinal Study of Risk Factors for Mesoamerican Nephropathy among Agricultural Workers in El Salvador, Central America." The purpose of this program is to study how environmental factors impact the health of agricultural workers in El Salvador, particularly how exposure to herbicides affects the kidneys. This is a particularly important study because of the extent to which herbicides have become a staple of the modern agricultural industry. If herbicides represent an environmental threat to human health and safety, some form of regulation will be required to protect people from the widespread use of these chemicals in agriculture.
Importance of the Topic
This topic is important because one in seven Americans is likely to be impacted by chronic kidney disease. Some 30 million Americans currently suffer from the condition (American Kidney Fund, 2018). These numbers indicate that this issue is critically important and deserves greater attention from public health officials, who are largely informed by the health literacy disseminated by environmental public health professionals. These professionals are uniquely positioned to relay the facts of a disease to those who set policy and who can make a meaningful difference in the lives of community members.
Additionally, there are several known risk factors associated with chronic kidney disease, including stress (hypertension), heart disease, diabetes, and genetics. These factors are further shaped by variables such as diet, exercise, and smoking. Nevertheless, many researchers believe that external or environmental factors may also serve as significant risk factors in the development and spread of chronic kidney disease.
Chronic kidney disease commonly develops alongside diabetes and/or high blood pressure. Patients who suffer from either condition are at increased risk of also developing chronic kidney disease. High blood sugar can cause damage to the kidneys in a manner similar to the way a car exposed to winter weather conditions is damaged by road salt applied to control ice — the car deteriorates if not properly maintained, and the same principle applies to the body's kidneys. To prevent chronic kidney disease, patients must first address diabetes and/or high blood pressure. If external or environmental factors are impairing kidney function, those must be addressed as well.
Obesity is another factor in the progression of kidney disease, and like diabetes, it can have environmental contributors — for example, living in a community where fast food chains are prevalent and pre-packaged, manufactured foods are a dietary staple due to their convenience and the demands of daily work life. The reality is that an individual who suffers from chronic kidney disease is likely to also face stress, poor diet, insufficient exercise, and inadequate blood sugar regulation (Gale Encyclopedia of Environmental Health, 2013). People in these circumstances must be especially mindful of their environment and their exposure to known risk factors.
Conclusion
By considering the point of view of the environmental public professional, the community is in a better position to take steps to engage in preventive care and stop the spread of diseases like diabetes and chronic kidney disease, which are related through the impact of external, environmental factors that contribute to poor dietary choices and ultimately to poor health outcomes. Communities can benefit substantially from the knowledge that environmental public health professionals bring, as that knowledge can lead to greater awareness, the formulation of public safety plans and policy, the spread of health literacy, and the cultivation of positive health habits.
References
American Kidney Fund. (2018). Kidney disease statistics.
Donham, K. J., & Thelin, A. (2016). Agricultural medicine: Rural occupational and environmental health, safety, and prevention. John Wiley & Sons.
Gale Encyclopedia of Environmental Health. (2013). Chronic kidney disease, 170–174.
Mayo Clinic. (2018). Chronic kidney disease. Retrieved from https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/chronic-kidney-disease/symptoms-causes/syc-20354521
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. (2018). Kidney diseases. Retrieved from https://www.niehs.nih.gov/research/supported/health/kidney/index.cfm
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