• About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact
VOPAM
Advertisement
  • Home
  • News
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Sports
  • Entertainment
  • World
  • Store
    • Shop
    • Cart
    • Checkout
    • My account
    • Wishlist
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Sports
  • Entertainment
  • World
  • Store
    • Shop
    • Cart
    • Checkout
    • My account
    • Wishlist
No Result
View All Result
VOPAM
No Result
View All Result
Home Africa

Toxic pollutants from burnt plastic taint eggs in Kenya and Tanzania

vopam by vopam
December 18, 2020
in Africa, Business
3 min read
0
Toxic pollutants from burnt plastic taint eggs in Kenya and Tanzania

Eggs from chickens that forage around waste yards and plastic burning sites are a risk as they have been found to contain high levels of persistent organic pollutants (POPs).

Studies carried out in Kenya and Tanzania found high levels of POPs in the eggs from such chickens, pointing to an environment polluted with chemicals, including banned and current-use plastic additives and chemicals created from burning plastics.

The study, “Plastic waste poisons the food chain in Kenya and Tanzania” was done to monitor persistent organic contaminants for human health and food.

In Kenya, the study was done with eggs produced by hens in the vicinity of a school community cooker in Mirema, Nairobi, that burns plastic waste for fuel. In Tanzania, it was carried out with free-range chicken eggs at households in Pugu Kinyamwezi located next to a large municipal solid waste dumpsite on the south-western edge of Dar es Salaam.

The study spearheaded by IPEN and local environment watchdogs — Centre for Environmental Justice and Development (CEJAD) in Kenya and Agenda for Environment and Responsible Development (Agenda) in Tanzania — found the eggs contained dioxins and POPs like brominated flame retardants.

The study warned that long-term continuous exposure to even small amounts of the harmful dioxins — a group of chemicals — could result in cancers, diabetes, damage to immune and reproductive systems.

“Eating one egg with these levels is not necessarily harmful, the problem exists for people living and growing their food or rearing their animals in such toxic environments consistently,” explained co-chair of Dioxin, PCBs and Waste Working Group of IPEN, Jindrich Petrlik — who is also head of the programme, Toxics-free future Programme at Arnika.

The most commonly encountered POPs are polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), organochlorine pesticides, such as DDT, industrial chemicals, as well as unintentional by-products of many industrial processes, especially polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDD) and dibenzofurans (PCDF), commonly known as dioxins.

At the plastic burner site in Kenya the results showed significant levels of what the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants lists as very hazardous chemicals that included dioxins and hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD).

“The major source of these pollutants is often plastic waste most likely polystyrene foam and major source of dioxins is burning of plastic waste containing chlorinated chemicals like polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic,” said Petrlik.

Eggs are an ideal matrix to generally monitor levels of POPs in the environment. Eggs also represent an important human exposure pathway through consumption, making them a relevant matrix for assessment of toxic burdens for POPs in our food chains.

Intolerable levels

Data from the studies shows that the dioxin levels in the eggs laid by hens foraging near the landfill in Dar es Salaam, were 26 picogram (pg) TEQ g-1 fat, while those sampled in Nairobi’s Mirema site were 12 pg TEQ g-1 fat.

A similar study done in Dandora landfill in 2004, found 27 pg TEQ g-1 fat in eggs in the total level of dioxins and PCBs. Toxic equivalency quantity (TEQ) is the weighted quantity measure based on the toxicity of each member of the dioxin category relative to the most toxic member of the category. The EU limit for dioxins in eggs is 2.5pg WHO-TEQ g-1 fat and for dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs it is 5.0pg WHO-TEQ g-1 fat.

The eggs in Dar were more than 10 times the EU limit (of 2.5 pg TEQ g-1 fat) set as the tolerable level of dioxins in eggs. Those sampled in Nairobi were almost five times the tolerable level of dioxins in eggs allowed by the EU.

The study used eggs to measure POPs in the environment because free-range chickens are “active samplers” of materials on the ground.

According to Centre for Environmental Justice and Development executive director, Griffins Ochieng Ochola, “More than 90 per cent of human exposure to POPs is through food.

Share this:

  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Skype (Opens in new window)

Related

Previous Post

Several EU leaders self-isolate as Macron tests positive for coronavirus

Next Post

Kenya: Comesa counts pandemic linked economic losses

vopam

vopam

Related Posts

Sudan protests activist’s torture and killing
Africa

Sudan protests activist’s torture and killing

December 31, 2020
0
Year in Review: Breakdown of major talking points from the sports industry
Africa

Year in Review: Breakdown of major talking points from the sports industry

December 31, 2020
3
Prominent Ivory Coast opposition figure released from prison
Africa

Prominent Ivory Coast opposition figure released from prison

December 31, 2020
2
Crave for fried beetles grows in Zimbabwe’s countryside
Africa

Crave for fried beetles grows in Zimbabwe’s countryside

December 30, 2020
1
Nollywood actress Uche Jombo shares adorable video as she clocks 41
Africa

Nollywood actress Uche Jombo shares adorable video as she clocks 41

December 29, 2020
1
Burna Boy’s team threw first punch in brawl with Davido – Eyewitness
Africa

Burna Boy’s team threw first punch in brawl with Davido – Eyewitness

December 29, 2020
2
Africa waits for Biden to unlock, reallocate $200b of IMF reserves
Africa

Africa waits for Biden to unlock, reallocate $200b of IMF reserves

December 29, 2020
1
Ethiopia: Mekelle’s banks reopen for first time since Tigray war
Africa

Ethiopia: Mekelle’s banks reopen for first time since Tigray war

December 29, 2020
4
Next Post
Kenya: Comesa counts pandemic linked economic losses

Kenya: Comesa counts pandemic linked economic losses

Valee Music talks influences as an artist, uniqueness, new projects for 2021 and more

Valee Music talks influences as an artist, uniqueness, new projects for 2021 and more

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Stay Connected test

  • 79 Followers
  • 33k Followers
  • 56.2k Subscribers
  • 22.9k Followers
  • 99 Subscribers
  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest
Football Players In Germany Go Naked In Artist Protest

Football Players In Germany Go Naked In Artist Protest

August 17, 2020
Mahama Will Be Free From Tracey Boakye’s Blackmail, Threats For Properties Soon — Gloria Kani [Video]

Mahama Will Be Free From Tracey Boakye’s Blackmail, Threats For Properties Soon — Gloria Kani [Video]

August 13, 2020
Nigerian Prophet TB Joshua Releases Prophecy For Donald Trump

Nigerian Prophet TB Joshua Releases Prophecy For Donald Trump

August 28, 2020
Police probe Argyll Ballet West school abuse allegations

Police probe Argyll Ballet West school abuse allegations

August 20, 2020
Sudan protests activist’s torture and killing

Sudan protests activist’s torture and killing

0
Agona East District records first COVID-19 case

Agona East District records first COVID-19 case

0
Adjust to live with novel coronavirus – Health Minister

Adjust to live with novel coronavirus – Health Minister

0
Hotel refuses accommodation to health workers over GH¢ 219,000 debt

Hotel refuses accommodation to health workers over GH¢ 219,000 debt

0
Sudan protests activist’s torture and killing

Sudan protests activist’s torture and killing

December 31, 2020
Year in Review: Breakdown of major talking points from the sports industry

Year in Review: Breakdown of major talking points from the sports industry

December 31, 2020
Prominent Ivory Coast opposition figure released from prison

Prominent Ivory Coast opposition figure released from prison

December 31, 2020
German health minister defends European solution to vaccine orders

German health minister defends European solution to vaccine orders

December 30, 2020

Recent News

Sudan protests activist’s torture and killing

Sudan protests activist’s torture and killing

December 31, 2020
0
Year in Review: Breakdown of major talking points from the sports industry

Year in Review: Breakdown of major talking points from the sports industry

December 31, 2020
3
Prominent Ivory Coast opposition figure released from prison

Prominent Ivory Coast opposition figure released from prison

December 31, 2020
2
German health minister defends European solution to vaccine orders

German health minister defends European solution to vaccine orders

December 30, 2020
3
Facebook Twitter Youtube Instagram
VOPAM

Follow Us

Browse by Category

  • Africa (752)
  • Business (482)
  • Entertainment (410)
  • Local News (351)
  • News (2,119)
  • Politics (383)
  • Sports (503)
  • uncategorized (70)
  • World (314)

Recent News

Sudan protests activist’s torture and killing

Sudan protests activist’s torture and killing

December 31, 2020
Year in Review: Breakdown of major talking points from the sports industry

Year in Review: Breakdown of major talking points from the sports industry

December 31, 2020

© 2020 Voice of Pan African Media. All Rights Reserved

No Result
View All Result

© 2020 Voice of Pan African Media. All Rights Reserved