1. THE EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON FOODBORNE DISEASES AND NUTRITION Hannah Twombly ‘16 and Erin Griffin ‘16 ES 366A: The Environment and Human Health, Environmental Studies Program, Colby College, Waterville ME
The Problem
The implications of climate change on human health are still unraveling and there is growing evidence to suggest that rising global temperatures and extreme weather events such as droughts and floods are resulting in an increased incidence of malnutrition and food- and waterborne diseases. These impacts can be direct through extreme weather events or indirect through ecological disruption like crop failure1. Some health consequences include diarrhea and liver cancer resulting from consumption of food and waterborne pathogens2,3.
Current Research
A case study in Beirut, Lebanon collected monthly data on regional food- and waterborne disease incidence and compared it with climate and temperature data. They concluded that above a threshold temperature increase of 19.2° C2 there was an increase in water and foodborne diseases, in this case multiple diarrheal infections. This study projected that food- and waterborne disease incidence in relation to temperature is expected to nearly double by the year
Another study revealed a connection between climatic shifts and increased incidences of waterborne diseases including diarrhea and kidney failure developed through contaminated drinking water, foodborne disease resulting from polluted water, and eutrophication.3
An additional study reported an association between disease outbreaks, particularly diarrhea, resulting from pathogens such as E. coli and Salmonella with extreme precipitation events.4
Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) found that droughts increase the spread of molds and aflatoxin, a substance that can contribute to the development of liver cancer in people who eat contaminated corn and nuts. They also found that the increased occurrence of crop pests due to climate change can have indirect effects on human health, encouraging greater usage of herbicides and insecticides that have long-term health effects on both farmers and consumers.5
Current Policy
Current policy regarding foodborne disease and climate change is limited and is regulated under broader frameworks addressing all health impacts resulting from global climate change.
The CDC’s Building Resilience Against Climate Effects (BRACE) Framework combines atmospheric data and epidemiological analyses to develop strategies to reduce health repercussions from climate change. This process predicts climate impacts and identifies future actions and vulnerable populations, estimates future health burdens to improve decision making, develops health adaptation plans for individual departments, and evaluates the impact and effectiveness of the framework.7
In 2010 the WHO and the UNDP launched a global project to adaptations to climate change that identifies the ”best practices” for dealing with the health impacts it presents and is carried out by individual countries that develop practices most needed in their respective regions. Fiji and Jordan have emphasized food monitoring and Fiji has evience demonstrating that food- and waterborne diarrheal diseases have the potential the worsen with increasing climatic shifts.8
Conclusions
Weather shifts associated with climate change pose serious threats to human health through increased development of food- and waterborne diseases, particularly diarrheal infections.
The U.S. Climate Change Science Program reports that temperature rise and extreme weather events will increase the risk of developing foodborne diseases through pathogen ingestion.5 Droughts have led to cancer development5 as well as increases in agricultural pests through enlarging their habitat range1. Extreme weather events also pose a risk of chemicals and metals leaching into food sources.9
Future Research
More extensive case studies need to be done in order to assess all human health risks as well as identify vulnerable populations and develop hypotheses for regional health effects.
Projection of climate change and its future impacts on temperature, drought, storms, floods, and greenhouse gas emissions to predict changes in agriculture, changes in habitat composition, and potential changes in nutrition from the leaching of chemicals and metals into food9.
Developing farms with flood-prevention systems, efficient irrigation, and pest-control technology.
Improving waste-water treatment plants and water source infrastructure, increasing desalination plants as a source of drinking water, increasing monitoring systems at pollution sources, and performing more epidemiological screenings for detection purposes3.
Figure 3. Graphs predicting future directions of climate change and human health impacts included in the IPCC‘s fifth assessment report “Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability”.6 The yellow bars represent the level of risk for human health with high levels of adaptation to the problem, and the red sectors represent the potential for adapting to the problem to reduce risk. The width of each sector illustrates its importance relative to other health burdens.6
Figure 4. Food- and waterborne pathogens and their resulting health implications as well as pathways of exposure and the presence of these pathogens in food and water sources and potential for transmission.3
Figure 1. Reported cases food- and waterborne diseases as a result of temperature rises 4.
Figure 2. Reported cases of food- and waterborne diseases and corresponding temperature trends in Beirut, Lebanon.4
References
1) Rosensweig, C., Iglesias, A., Yang, X.B., Epstein, P.R., Chivian, E. Climate change and extreme weather events: Implications for food production, plant diseases, and pests. Global Change & Human Health 2001; 2.2:
2) El-Fadel, M., Ghanimeh, S., Maroun, R., Alameddine, I. Climate Change and temperature rise: Implications on food-and water-borne diseases. Science of Total Environment 2012; 437:
3) Rose, J.B., Epstein, P.R., Lipp, E.K., Sherman, B.H., Bernard, S.M., Patz, J.A. Climate Variability and Change in the United States: Potential Impacts on Water- and Foodborne Diseases caused by Microbiologic Agents. Environmental Health Perspectives 2001; 109:
4) Rose. J.B., Daeschner, S., Easterling, D.R., Curriero, F.C., Lele, S., Patz, J.Climate and waterborne disease outbreaks. American Water Works Association 2000; 92.9: 77-87
5) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Foodborne Diseases and Nutrition. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 29 Nov
6) Woodward, A., & Smith, K. (). Chapter 11. Human Health: Impacts, Adaptation, and Co-Benefits. IPCC WGII AR5,1-69.
7) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC’s Building Resilience Against Climate Effects (BRACE) Framework. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2009.
8) World Health Organization. Climate Change Adaptation to Protect Human Health: Global project overview. The World Health Organization and the United Nations Development Programme 2010.
9) National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Foodborne Diseases and Nutrition and Climate Change. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences 28 Mar
10) Sharma, Rita. "Impacts on Human Health of Climate and Land Use Change in the Hindu Kush–Himalayan Region." Mountain Research and Development 2012; 32(4):