Religious leaders joined rights activists and 1,500 farmers for a street demonstration to highlight the dangers posed by arsenic poisoning in the sacred Buddhist city of Anuradhapura on the weekend.

Christians and Buddhists marched in a silent demonstration and held religious observances on September 25 to raise awareness about the use of poisonous substances in agro-chemicals.

“It has been discovered that poisons used by farmers have caused various diseases and deaths,” said Buddhist monk Mahamankadawala Piyaratana Thero from the Kettarama temple in Eppawela.

“Our people have been using these imported substances, which include arsenic, cyanide, uranium and mercury, for the past 50 years. These poisons have mixed with water and the people today are suffering from numerous diseases.

“Doctors have found that these poisons cause kidney diseases,” said Father Jayamaha, director of Caritas Anuradhapura, the social arm of the local Catholic Church, who attended the demonstration.

“About 20,000 people have died from kidney failure. Even yesterday, I attended such a funeral. Therefore, it is important that we raise our voices against these evils irrespective of our different religions.”

Dr Channa Sudath Jayasumana of Rajarata university said acceptable levels of arsenic in the soil are 2 mg/kg or less, but that levels in Anuradhapura are between 10 and 30 mg/kg.

Between 2006 and 2008, the government health director’s office in the Diocese of Anuradhapura reported 11,318 cases of kidney disease and around 10,000 deaths.

Anura Wijesekara, the government registrar of pesticides, said the state has appointed a 15-member committee that has no commercial interests related to pesticides to investigate the situation.

“If the committee decides that the levels of arsenic found could harm human health or the environment, the pesticides will be banned.”

Croplife, a consortium of pesticide importing companies operating throughout the country, has denied that its products have caused kidney and other health ailments.

“The levels have been much lower than the permissible levels of arsenic for food items,” a group representative told reporters in July.

“If this argument is continued, it can cause further damage to our major export agricultural sector.”

Related reports:

Panel addresses arsenic concerns
Call to ban deadly pesticides