Journal of Applied Biosciences (J. Appl. Biosci.) [ISSN 1997 - 5902]
Volume 9(2): 396 - 402. Published September 2008.
Lead pollution in the environment and contamination in food around Mwanza, Tanzania
Happy S. Magoha*^, Anselimo O. Makokha**, Leonard R. Mghweno***, Amina Nakajugo****, John M. Wekesa**
*Open University of Tanzania, P. O. Box 23409, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. **Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT), P.O. Box 62000-00200, Nairobi, Kenya. Email: anmakokha@yahoo.com; ***Bugema University, P. O. Box 6529 Kampala, Uganda. leomghweno@yahoo.com; ****Islamic University of Uganda, P.O. Box 11945, Kampala, Uganda. anakajugo@yahoo.com; Last author email jwmafumbo@yahoo.com.
*^Corresponding author email: hmagoha@yahoo.comABSTRACT
Objective: To determine the extent of lead contamination in soil, water and food around Mwanza, Tanzania and assess the implication of such contamination on food safety and human health.
Methodology and results: Samples of water, soil and food were taken from around Mwanza town in Tanzania. Lead content as determined by spectrophotometry was correlated with the level of pollution in soils and in Lake Victoria water, and also compared to the maximum limits recommended by WHO for the different samples. Lead content in tap water and other surface water ranged from 0.03 to 0.05, and 0.02 to 0.08 mg/100 ml, respectively which is above the 0.001 mg/100 ml WHO maximum limit. The lead content in vegetables and dry cereal and legume grains ranged between 0.21 to 1.18, and 0.02 to 0.12 mg/100 g, respectively. Soils contained between 0.01 to 0.48 mg / 100 g lead.
Conclusion and application of results: The results indicate that there is considerable risk of lead poisoning from drinking water and eating vegetables obtained from the sampling sites. The data are useful in raising awareness about the risk of lead contamination to human health and in the enactment of policies and regulatory measures to limit lead pollution and contamination in foods and the environment in Tanzania.
FULL PAPER [PDF AVAILABLE HERE]
