Chapters authored
Household Hazardous Waste Management in Sub‐Saharan Africa
Household hazardous wastes (HHWs) have not been given serious attention in sub‐Saharan Africa. There is little or no information on HHWs in many developing countries of the world. This is regardless of the fact that they are very toxic and contain constituents which are persistent in nature. Once released into the environment, they can remain stable for exceptionally long periods of time. They have the potential to be harmful to public health and the environment if not handled, used, and disposed properly. This study reports the level of knowledge and management of HHWs in three tertiary institutions in sub‐Saharan Africa. Several factors were found to be responsible for poor management of HHWs. These include lack of awareness, inadequate treatment technologies, financial constraints, lack of realistic policies and legal frameworks, and unplanned settlements, among others.
Part of the book: Household Hazardous Waste Management
Impact of Wastewater on Surface Water Quality in Developing Countries: A Case Study of South Africa
Wastewater effluents are major contributors to a variety of water pollution problems. Most cities of developing countries generate on the average 30–70 mm3 of wastewater per person per year. Owing to lack of or improper wastewater treatment facilities, wastewater and its effluents are often discharged into surface water sources, which are receptacles for domestic and industrial wastes, resulting to pollution. The poor quality of wastewater effluents is responsible for the degradation of the receiving surface water body. Wastewater effluent should be treated efficiently to avert adverse health risk of the user of surface water resources and the aquatic ecosystem. The release of raw and improperly treated wastewater onto water courses has both short‐ and long‐term effects on the environment and human health. Hence, there should be proper enforcement of water and environmental laws to protect the health of inhabitants of both rural and urban communities. This study reports major factors responsible for the failing state of wastewater treatment facilities in developing countries, which includes poor operational state of wastewater infrastructure, design weaknesses, lack of expertise, corruption, insufficient funds allocated for wastewater treatment, overloaded capacities of existing facilities, and inefficient monitoring for compliance, among others.
Part of the book: Water Quality
Assessment of Heavy Metals in Landfill Leachate: A Case Study of Thohoyandou Landfill, Limpopo Province, South Africa
Landfilling of solid wastes has gained increasing acceptance due to the ease of disposal. However, such activity has consequences if the landfill site is not designed according to specification or does not have a leachate liner and collection system. Leachate possesses potential risk to surface and groundwater aquifer within the area surrounding the landfill site. The aim of this chapter is to assess the physicochemical parameters and heavy metal levels in leachate generated from a periurban landfill site situated in Thohoyandou, Limpopo Province, South Africa. Physicochemical parameters were measured onsite using standard methods, while heavy metals were analyzed with flame atomic absorption spectrometer (FAAS) after nitric acid digestion. pH, conductivity and turbidity values ranged from 6.97 to 7.68, 426 to 2288 μS/cm and 12.78 to 295.5 NTU, respectively. Most levels of the determined heavy metals exceeded the effluent discharge guideline limit of South African Department of Water Affairs. This could potentially spike their levels in surface and groundwater. Adequate measures should be put in place to manage the leachate generated from landfill sites.
Part of the book: Heavy Metals
Health Risk Assessment of Heavy Metals on Primary School Learners from Dust and Soil within School Premises in Lagos State, Nigeria
This chapter is aimed at evaluating learner’s health risk based on the concentration of toxic metals (Pb, Cr, Cd and Mn) in soil/dust from playgrounds/classrooms in selected primary schools in Lagos State. Samples were divided into four groups based on the density of the locations. Concentration of toxic metals in samples were determined by Graphite Furnace Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (GFA-EX7) technique after microwave digestion. The result showed that some of the heavy metals in the soil were higher than permissible limits set by DPR, FEPA and WHO. The soil/dust were contaminated with Cr, Cd and Pb but Mn was within permissible limit. Due to exposure to playground soil and classroom dust, hazardous index (HI) for non-carcinogenic/carcinogenic risk in children was estimated. HI value indicated that the heavy metal pollution may pose no obvious non-cancer health risk to children learning in such schools. However, children via ingestion pathway are exposed to the greatest carcinogenic risk followed by the inhalation pathway. The cancer risk for learners was found to be 3.2 × 10−2 (1 in 31 individuals). Hence, there is need for local environmental authorities to be warned about the potential health risks caused by heavy metals in playground/classroom.
Part of the book: Heavy Metals