Letter: Why are we humans slowly poisoning ourselves? Change is required - the survival of our species may depend on it
A letter from Eoghan O’Brien:
As a species, the majority of us seem to have lost touch with the most important aspects of our health and wellbeing.
One of the most momentous advances in public health over this past 100 years has been clean drinking water.
As a pharmacist and health coach I routinely encourage people to drink good quality – ideally filtered - water as part of a daily regime that includes eating real, unprocessed food; keeping physically active; managing stress and sleeping well.
Last September I was unable to drink my tap water at home – even from an activated carbon filter.
The water developed a musty, stale taste overnight. This month it has started to return.
The massive explosion of blue green algae in Lough Neagh and the River Bann this summer and last can only be described as an environmental catastrophe.
What is deeply concerning is that 40% of the drinking water in Northern Ireland comes from Lough Neagh – including that feeding my home supply.
Phosphates are one of the primary drivers for blue green algae growth.
A 2020 RePhOKUs (The Role of Phosphorus in the Resilience and Sustainability of the UK Food System) document on phosphorus stock and flows in the Northern Ireland food system states that wastewater management is responsible for 24% of the total load of phosphorus entering Lough Neagh - which is 360 tons annually.
Septic tanks contribute 12% and agriculture is responsible for 62% - 940 tonnes of phosphorus.
Our wastewater can be better treated. In the Netherlands, phosphate is recovered from wastewater by adding magnesium hydroxide.
This reacts with phosphate, resulting in the controlled production of struvite which can be used as fertiliser.
When the right environment is created with the optimal balance of nutrients, a living ecosystem can start to recover.
It’s a bit like refined carbohydrates and sugar in our diet. Putting too much in will result in progressively deteriorating long-term health problems such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, dementia and some cancers.
Remove these from the diet; address any other contributing lifestyle factors and these conditions stabilise and in many cases the body can make a full recovery.
Surely there is also now a compelling case to support and incentivise sustainable and organic agricultural methods, making them so attractive that they are the best options for farmers.
This will not remove all the phosphorus runoff but may make it more manageable.
Reviews of multiple studies also show that organic fruit and vegetables provide significantly greater levels of vitamins and minerals than non-organic.
There has been a systems failure in the NI environmental infrastructure, resulting in a lack of accountability and subsequent buck passing with no individual or organisation putting hands up to take responsibility.
Hopefully Minister Andrew Muir’s July 2024 Lough Neagh Report and Action Plan will change that.
Our survival as a species may depend on it.
Eoghan O’Brien, Bannside Pharmacy, Portglenone