Stewing in our chemical diaper

Beriberi is a deficiency of vitamin B1, also known as thiamine. It used to be a big problem for many human populations, especially those on long sea journeys, but these days is easily solved through fortified foodstuffs such as cereals.

However, an alarming deficiency in B1 is occurring in fish and birds. This was first detected in Baltic seabirds in the 1980s who were so deficient in thiamine that they were unable to fold their wings, to sing, or for their legs to hold their own weight.

This deficiency issues has since become a widespread problem affecting the entire food chain in many parts of the world, at all levels, everything from giant Moose to little Minnows. It is having a catastrophic effect on the viability of many species, as deficiency makes it very difficult to successfully gather sufficient resources to reproduce.

The cause of the deficiencies is unknown. However, as it affects practically all wild animal life, it must either be a ubiquitous pollutant, or start at the very base of the food chain.

Research is underway to isolate the source, but unless this mystery is solved (and mitigated) quickly, many species will perish in a chain reaction that threatens the entire natural ecosystem.

I suspect endocrine disrupting chemicals to be the culprit, as there are known interactions between chemicals in the Bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate family (e.g. DEHP), and disrupted metabolism of thiamine in the liver.

Another potential aspect is pollution runoff. Thiamine is a sulfhydryl containing biomolecule, which bonds tightly to heavy metals, particularly mercury. Our oceans are polluted with high levels of mercury, with coal power also polluting the land even long after it has been decommissioned.

Our global society urgently needs to invest further in granular activated carbon and nanopore filtration systems to remove endocrine disruptors such as DEHP, and heavy metals also, from our waterways, to protect the viability of our own species, and others.