Research Results from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology Update Knowledge of Environmental Pollution (Occurrence, distribution, and risk assessment of pharmerciuticals in wastewater and open surface drains of peri-urban …)

Insurance Daily News

2020 DEC 16 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Investigators publish new report on Environmental Pollution. According to news reporting from Nairobi, Kenya, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, “The occurrence of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) in the environment is becoming a major area of concern due to their undesirable effects on non-target organisms. This study investigated the occurrence and risk of contamination by five antibiotics and three antiretrovirals drugs in a fast-growing peri-urban area in Kenya, with inadequate sewer system coverage.”

The news correspondents obtained a quote from the research from the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, “Due to poor sewage connectivity and poorly designed decentralized systems, wastewater is directly released in open drains. Water and sediment samples were collected from open surface water drains, while wastewater samples were collected from centralized wastewater treatment plants (WWTP). Solid-phase extraction and ultrasonic-assisted extraction for the aqueous and sediment samples respectively were carried out and extracts analyzed by liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS/MS) using isotopically labeled internal standards. APIs were observed with the detection frequency ranging from 36% to 100%. High mean concentrations of 48.7 mg L, 108 mg L, and 532 mg L were observed in surface drains for Lamivudine (3 TC), Sulfamethoxazole (SMX), Ciprofloxacin (CIP) respectively. Drain sediments also showed high concentrations of APIs ranging from 2.1 to 13,100 mg kg. APIs in this study exceeded those observed in existing literature studies. JKUAT WWTP removal efficiencies varied from -90.68% to 72.67%. Total APIs emission load of the study area was 3550 mg d with WWTP effluent contributing higher loads (2620 mg d) than surface water drains (640 mg d). Zidovudine (ZDV), nevirapine (NVP), and trimethoprim (TMP) loads in drains, however, exceeded WWTP effluent. Low to high ecotoxicity risk of the individual APIs were observed to the aquatic environment, with high risks for the development of antibiotic resistance in microbiome as determined by the risk quotient (RQ) approach.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “Risk management through efficient wastewater collection, conveyance, and treatment is necessary to suppress the measured concentrations.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Occurrence, distribution, and risk assessment of pharmerciuticals in wastewater and open surface drains of peri-urban areas: Case study of Juja town, Kenya. Environmental Pollution, 2020;267:115503. (Elsevier - www.elsevier.com; Environmental Pollution - http://www.journals.elsevier.com/environmental-pollution/)

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Cecilia W. Muriuki, Dept. of Soil, Water and Environmental Engineering, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, P.O. Box 62000-00200, Nairobi, Kenya. Additional authors for this research include Patrick G. Home, James M. Raude, Elijah K. Ngumba, Gerryshom K. Munala, Pius K. Kairigo, Anthony N. Gachanja and Tuula A. Tuhkanen.