Journal article
Environmental levels and human body burdens of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances in Africa: A critical review.
- Ssebugere P Department of Chemistry, Makerere University, P.O. Box 7062, Kampala, Uganda. Electronic address: ssebugere@cns.mak.ac.ug.
- Sillanpää M Institute of Research and Development, Duy Tan University, Da Nang 550000, Viet Nam; Faculty of Environment and Chemical Engineering, Duy Tan University, Da Nang 550000, Viet Nam; School of Civil Engineering and Surveying, Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences, University of Southern Queensland, West Street, Toowoomba, 4350, QLD, Australia.
- Matovu H Department of Chemistry, Makerere University, P.O. Box 7062, Kampala, Uganda; Department of Chemistry, Gulu University, P. O. Box 166, Gulu, Uganda.
- Wang Z Institute of Environmental Engineering, ETH Zürich, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland.
- Schramm KW Helmholtz Zentrum Müenchen, German National Research Centre for Environmental Health (GmbH), Molecular EXposomics (MEX), Ingolstaedter Landstrasse 1, Neuherberg, Munich, Germany.
- Omwoma S Department of Physical Sciences, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology, P. O. Box 210-40601, Bondo, Kenya.
- Wanasolo W Department of Chemistry, Kyambogo University, P.O. Box 1, Kyambogo, Uganda.
- Ngeno EC Department of Chemistry, Makerere University, P.O. Box 7062, Kampala, Uganda.
- Odongo S Department of Chemistry, Makerere University, P.O. Box 7062, Kampala, Uganda.
- 2020-06-17
Published in:
- The Science of the total environment. - 2020
Africa
Human body burdens
PFOA
PFOS
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances
Alkanesulfonic Acids
Animals
Body Burden
Caprylates
Ecosystem
Environmental Monitoring
Environmental Pollutants
Fluorocarbons
Humans
South Africa
Waste Water
Water Pollutants, Chemical
English
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are known organic pollutants with adverse health effects on humans and the ecosystem. This paper synthesises literature about the status of the pollutants and their precursors, identifies knowledge gaps and discusses future perspectives on the study of PFASs in Africa. Limited data on PFASs prevalence in Africa is available because there is limited capacity to monitor PFASs in African laboratories. The levels of PFASs in Africa are higher in samples from urban and industrialized areas compared to rural areas. Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) are the dominant PFASs in human samples from Africa. Levels of PFOS and PFOA in these samples are lower than or comparable to those from industrialized countries. PFOA and PFOS levels in drinking water in Africa are, in some cases, higher than the EPA drinking water guidelines suggesting potential risk to humans. The levels of PFASs in birds' eggs from South Africa are higher, while those in other environmental media from Africa are lower or comparable to those from industrialized countries. Diet influences the pollutant levels in fish, while size and sex affect their accumulation in crocodiles. No bioaccumulation of PFASs in aquatic systems in Africa could be confirmed due to small sample sizes. Reported sources of PFASs in Africa include municipal landfills, inefficient wastewater treatment plants, consumer products containing PFASs, industrial wastewater and urban runoff. Relevant stakeholders need to take serious action to identify and deal with the salient sources of PFASs on the African continent.
- Language
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- English
- Open access status
- closed
- Identifiers
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- DOI 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.139913
- PMID 32540660
- Persistent URL
- https://sonar.ch/global/documents/200114
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