Browsing by Author "Nyanza, Elias Charles"

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    Contribution of Illicit Drug Use to Pharmaceutical Load in the Environment: A Focus on Sub-Saharan Africa
    (2022-06-08) Ripanda, Asha S; Rwiza, Mwemezi J.; Nyanza, Elias Charles; Machunda, Revocatus L.; Vuai, Said Hamadi
    Illicit drug abuse and addiction are universal issues requiring international cooperation and interdisciplinary and multisectoral solutions. These addictive substances are utilized for recreational purposes worldwide, including in sub-Saharan Africa. On the other hand, conventional wastewater treatment facilities such as waste stabilization ponds lack the design to remove the most recent classes of pollutants such as illicit drug abuse. As a result, effluents from these treatment schemes contaminate the entire ecosystem. Public health officials are concerned about detecting these pollutants at alarming levels in some countries, with potential undesirable effects on aquatic species and increased health hazards through exposure to contaminated waters or recycling treated or untreated effluents in agriculture. Contaminants including illicit substances enter the environment by human excreta following illegal intake, spills, or through direct dumping, such as from clandestine laboratories, when their manufacturer does not follow accepted production processes. These substances, like other pharmaceuticals, have biological activity and range from pseudopersistent to highly persistent compounds; hence, they persist in the environment while causing harm to the ecosystem. The presence of powerful pharmacological agents such as cocaine, morphine, and amphetamine in water as complex combinations can impair aquatic organisms and human health. These compounds can harm human beings and ecosystem health apart from their low environmental levels. Therefore, this article examines the presence and levels of illicit substances in ecological compartments such as wastewater, surface and ground waters in sub-Saharan Africa, and their latent impact on the ecosystem. The information on the occurrences of illicit drugs and their metabolic products in the sub-Saharan Africa environment and their contribution to pharmaceutical load is missing. In this case, it is important to research further the presence, levels, distribution, and environmental risks of exposure to human beings and the entire ecosystem.
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    Exposure to Arsenic and Mercury: Associated Pregnancy Outcomes, and Early Infant Developmental Outcomes in Gold Mining Areas in Tanzania
    (2020-04-29) Nyanza, Elias Charles; Dewey, Deborah; Manyama, Mange F.; Bernier, François P.; Hatfield, Jennifer M.; Martin, Jonathan W.
    The problem: Prenatal exposure to mercury and arsenic through artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) is an under-explored yet salient issue in Tanzania. ASGM operations are known to expose the entire community—including vulnerable pregnant women and children—to arsenic and mercury via the water they drink, the food they eat, the soil in which their food is grown, and the air they breathe. Prenatal exposure to arsenic and mercury is associated with adverse reproductive outcome including spontaneous abortion, stillbirth, low birth weight, and congenital anomalies, and with poorer developmental outcomes in the children. This study used a longitudinal prospective approach to examine the associations between level of exposure prenatally to arsenic and mercury, and reproductive outcomes and early developmental outcomes in ASGM communities in Tanzania. Methods: A total of 1056 (883 in ASGM and 173 in non-ASGM) out of 1078 pregnant women who were recruited during their antenatal care clinics visits consented to participate in this research. We used minimally invasive techniques to collect urine and blood samples for total arsenic (T-As) and total mercury (T-Hg), respectively. For T-As an unprovoked morning urine sample was collected, whereas for T-Hg, a drop of whole blood was collected on filter paper (Whatman #903) following a simple finger prick. All samples were analyzed using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Measures of association between maternal T-As or T-Hg exposure, and birth outcomes and early infants’ neurodevelopmental outcome were examined by calculating the coefficient of regression/correlation between variables with their respective 95% confidence interval. Conclusion: Findings from this study revealed that pregnant women living in ASGM communities have elevated arsenic and mercury levels compared to those in non-mining communities. Women in gold mining areas of northern Tanzania had higher incidence of adverse birth outcomes associated with arsenic and mercury exposure. Maternal exposure to mercury but not arsenic was associated with an increased prevalence of severe developmental impairment among infants in gold mining areas of northern Tanzania. These findings suggest that prenatal exposure to arsenic and mercury were associated with adverse reproductive and early developmental outcomes in ASGM communities in Tanzania.