Current Levels of Heavy Metal Pollution in Africa
Loading...
Files
Date
2010-05-18
Authors
Yabe, John
Ishizuka, Mayuni
Umemura, Takashi
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Journal of veterinary medicine
Abstract
ABSTRACT. Studies of environmental pollution in Africa indicate that toxic metal pollution has reached unprecedented levels over the past
decade. Human exposure to toxic metals has become a major health risk on the continent and is the subject of increasing attention from
national and international environmentalists. This paper reviews data from the past decade on environmental pollution in Africa and
highlights countries where most heavy metal pollutions have been reported. Characteristics of heavy metal pollution in North, West,
East and Southern regions of Africa have been described, as have major sources of pollution in the different regions. This review summarizes
the sites where most of the heavy metal pollution has been reported in Africa and, where applicable, presents reported levels of
pollution in different environmental compartments in the context of internationally acceptable limits. Contaminations in fish and food
animals as well as impacts of heavy metal pollution on humans are also described.
Description
Journal article
Keywords
Africa , Environment , Heavy metals , Pollution