Food Safety in Sub-Sahara Africa, An insight into Ghana and Nigeria.

Food safety is a global concern in today's world, and harnessing food safety in Sub-Saharan Africa, especially Nigeria and Ghana are momentous. This review presents an insight into the situation of food safety in Nigeria and Ghana. Using a desktop review technique, research papers were evaluated to find major sources of food safety concerns. It was revealed that many studies reported on food contamination at the consumption level whereas few reported on the healthiness of the production chain. Improper handling of food at the local markets, vending sites hygiene practices of food vendors, and bad transportation and packing systems have all been implicated. Inadequate education is a major cause of food contamination, especially at the consumption level. Again, etiologic agents responsible for food-borne illness in Ghana and Nigeria range from viruses, fungi, parasites, and protozoans to bacteria. They include rotavirus, hepatitis A virus, Lassa fever (LHF), human noroviruses (HNoV), Aspergillus parasiticus, Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus niger, Taenia solium, Ascaris spp., Toxoplasma gondii, Cryptosporidium spp. Enterobacter spp., Pseudomonas spp., Campylobacter spp., Escherichia coli. Staphylococcus spp., Salmonella spp., Vibrio cholerae and Listeria monocytogenes. Their toxins are responsible for numerous food contaminants. Some foods are contaminated with chemicals including pesticide residues, lead, mercury, etc. Laws of food safety are not well enforced leading to complications in the food production chain. Rigorous monitoring and evaluation coupled with surveillance and education to harness the situation and detect issues that compromise the right process is a necessity. Finally, intentional enforcement of regulations by regulatory agencies will go a long way to curb food contamination and food-borne illnesses within the region.

Assessment of water quality of rivers that serve as water sources for drinking and domestic functions in rural and pre-urban communities in Edo North, Nigeria.

Surface waters are important to humans because they are a significant water supply source. They are, however, under serious environmental stress and are being threatened as a consequence of developmental activities. The present study describes the physicochemical properties and water quality indices of five different rivers used for drinking and other domestic activities in rural and pre-urban communities in Edo North, Nigeria. The physicochemical variable ranges include pH [wet season (6.47 ± 0.30-6.89 ± 0.11), dry season (6.61 ± 0.14-7.84 ± 0.24)], electrical conductivity (EC) [wet season (3.33 ± 0.57-12.33 ± 2.51 µS/cm), dry season (5.33 ± 0.57-21.33 ± 2.08 µS/cm)], water temperature [wet season (24.23 ± 0.98-25.40 ± 1.15 °C), dry season (26.20 ± 0.55-27.10 ± 0.75 °C)], TDS [wet season (417.00 ± 15.87-433.33 ± 18.50 mg/L), dry season (319.33 ± 16.50-372.66 ± 22.30 mg/L)], turbidity [wet season (1.01 ± 0.11-2.08 ± 0.99 NTU), dry season (3.11 ± 0.01-5.41 ± 0.24 NTU)], and DO [wet season (2.65 ± 0.37-3.99 ± 0.01 mg/L), dry season (2.12 ± 0.11-2.44 ± 0.01 mg/L)]. For the wet and dry seasons, the water quality indices were 120.225 and 585.015 for River Osolo, 119.849 and 445.751 for River Foreign, 200.474 and 587.833 for Ijoh River, 105.261 and 512.498 for Ole River, and 150.114 and 489.992 for Ole Extension River, respectively. The pH was negatively correlated with DO (r = -0.648), and EC was negatively correlated with DO (r = -0.635). Most of the evaluated parameters were within recommended water safety guidelines. However, the water quality index shows that the water quality was very poor and/or unsuitable for drinking and other domestic uses, especially during the dry season. It is suggested that river water be treated prior to its use for drinking and other domestic purposes.

Index analysis and human health risk model application for evaluating ambient air-heavy metal contamination in Chemical Valley Sarnia.

The impacts of air emissions as a consequence of industrial activities around communities of human habitation have been extensively reported. This study is the first to assess potential adverse human health effects in the Chemical Valley Sarnia (CVS) area, around the St. Clair River, using health risk models, ecological and pollution indices. Large quantities of particulate matters (PM) are generated from anthropogenic activities, which contain several heavy metals in trace quantities with potentially adverse effects to humans and environmental health. The distribution, and human health impact assessment of trace element concentrations in PM fractions were examined. Elemental concentrations of As, Cd, Cr (VI), Cu, Fe, Mn, Pb, Ni, Zn were determined in the PM size-segregated samples collected from the CVS area between 2014 and 2017. The results showed relatively high concentration of PM<2.5 (87.19±8.1(mgm3)) which is approximately 4 times the WHO air quality guidelines. Pb concentration (143.03 ± 46.87ηg/m3) was 3.6 times higher than the air quality standards of NAAQS. Cr (VI) showed moderate to considerable contamination ( Cf=4) in the CVS while Cr (VI), Pb, and Ni had enrichment factor Ef < 3 (minimal), signifying contributions from anthropogenic activities. Pollution load index (PLi) value observed was 1.4 indicating human health risk from the PM, especially for the children in the area. The deposition fluxes (DΦ) showed that PM-bound metals could potentially bypass the head airways and cause damages to the tracheobronchial tree, increasing the human health risks of nephroblastomasis development. The main route of entry for the heavy metal bound PM in humans were observed as through ingestion and inhalation. The highest total excess cancer risks observed for children (6.7×10-4) and adult (1.0×10-4) indicating potential cancer effects. The Incremental Lifetime Cancer Risk (ILCR) increased from Pb < Ni < Cd < Cr (VI) < As. Overall, children are more likely to develop carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic health effects from exposures to elemental concentrations of airborne PM in the study area.

Biotreatment of effluent from 'Adire' textile factories in Ibadan, Nigeria.

In this present study, bacteria were isolated from wastewater and polluted soil collected from two cottage textile factories in Ibadan. These bacteria isolates were used for the biotreatment of textile mill effluent. The physicochemical parameters of the textile mill effluent before treatment were carried out and percentage decolourisation of the effluent was analysed using ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-vis technique). The degradation products of the textile mill effluent characterised by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The pH values of the effluent were within the permissible limit of Federal Environmental Protection Agency (FEPA) and National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), while temperature and electric conductivity of the effluents were below the permissible limit of FEPA and NESREA. The BOD, COD, TSS, TDS and chloride of the textile mill effluent from the two cottage textile factories were above the permissible limits of FEPA and NESREA. Twelve bacteria isolates were screened, effective in decolourising commercial dyes and used to decolourise the textile mill effluent. The bacteria isolates were characterised and identified as Bacillus sp., Micrococcus sp., Erwinia sp., Acinetobacter sp. and Nocardia sp. The decolourisation of textile effluent was observed through the changes of spectra of UV-visible spectrophotometer. The following bacteria revealed different percentage proportion of decolouration profile:- Bacillus sp., had the highest percentage decolourisation of 57.7%, whereas Micrococcus sp. and Acinetobacter sp. had percentage decolourisation of 32.8 and 26.3%, respectively. The degradation profile of textile effluent was revealed through FTIR spectral analysis. The changes in the position of major peaks revealed from the textile effluent through FTIR spectral analysis, appearances of new peaks and the disappearances of existing peaks signify the degradation of the wastewater. Thus, some native microorganisms from the textile effluent could be enhanced to effectively degrade effluent from such environments.

Management of conflicts arising from disclosure of HIV status among married women in southwest Nigeria.

This study examined if disclosure to their spouses by married women living with HIV/AIDS resulted in conflicts. Fifty-seven women completed a questionnaire on conflict indicators. While 93% disclosed their status within 6 months of diagnosis, 12.3% did so through a third party. More than thirty-six percent (36.8%) confirmed that disclosure led to conflict. Although 19.3% had their conflicts resolved through a third party, 10% suffered separation. Marital status and fear of stigma significantly influence time to disclose (p <.01 and p <.05), while type of marriage strongly influences whether status will be disclosed (p <.01). Programs for women with HIV should consider conflicts that may arise from disclosure.

Chemometric analysis of ecological toxicants in petrochemical and industrial environments.

The application of chemometrics in the assessment of toxicants, such as heavy metals (HMs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) potentially derived from petrochemical activities in the microenvironment, is vital in providing safeguards for human health of children and adults residing around petrochemical industrial regions. Several multivariate statistical methods are used in geosciences and environmental protection studies to classify, identify and group prevalent pollutants with regard to exhibited trends. Chemometrics can be applied for toxicant source identification, estimation of contaminants contributions to the toxicity of sites of interest, the assessment of the integral risk index of an area and provision of mitigating measures that limit or eliminate the contaminants identified. In this study, the principal component analysis (PCA) was used for dimensionality reduction of both organic and inorganic substances data in the environment, which are potentially hazardous. The high molecular weight (HMW) PAHs correlated positively with stronger impact on the model than the lower molecular weight (LMW) PAHs, the total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs), PAHs and BTEX correlate positively in the F1 vs F2 plot indicating similar source contributions of these pollutants in the environmental material. Cu, Cr, Cd, Fe, Zn and Pb all show positive correlation in the same space indicating similar source of contamination. Analytical processes involving environmental assessment data obtained in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria, confirmed the usefulness of chemometrics for comprehensive ecological evaluation.

Exploring the cultural context of HIV stigma on antiretroviral therapy adherence among people living with HIV/AIDS in southwest Nigeria.

This study explored the cultural context of HIV stigma on antiretroviral therapy adherence among people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in southwest Nigeria. Using purposive sampling, participants were recruited through a community-based organization. Consenting PLWHA participated in in-depth interviews and focus group discussions that were audio-taped. Using Deacon's conceptual framework of stigma, four opinion guides facilitated the interviews and discussions. Interviews and discussions were conducted in three languages, and lasted from 45 min to 2 h. A total of 35 women and men participated in the study. Participants ranged in age from 22 to 58 years, with an average of 4 years since clinical diagnosis of HIV/AIDS. All participants were receiving ART, and self-reported high adherence level. Using thematic analysis, three themes emerged: life before ART, life after ART, and strategies used in ART adherence. In describing their lives before ART, participants reported experiencing self, anticipated and enacted stigmas due to their sickly appearance from HIV-related complications. After initiating ART, participants talked about friends and families "returning to them" and "apologizing for abandoning" them once they started "looking well." In response to anticipated stigma, many reported sticking to their medications. Drawing from the cultural milieu as part of their strategies, participants discussed the use of plastic bags for medications and àkònpó, as ways of diverting attention from their use of many medications. Implications for ART program policies and stigma interventions were discussed, along with limitation of a short-term ART study on stigma since long-term use of ART can contribute to stigma by way of lipoatrophy as PLWHA age.