Pesticides in groundwater - two examples from Africa

To produce cash crops, pesticides are needed to a much higher degree in the tropics than in the temperate zones. When this need to use pesticides is coupled with low education among the users it's a perfect basis for environmental problems. However, the highest risk of pesticide contamination of water resources, including groundwater, is often not the direct use in agricultural fields, but point sources and "old sins". An additional problem is that substances that have been phased out in industrialised countries are still used in many parts of the world.Translation: Lewis Gruber.</p

Adsorption-desorption of chlorpyrifos in soils and sediments from the Rufiji Delta, Tanzania

Batch adsorption-desorption equilibrium techniques were used to investigate the adsorption capacity and influence of salinity on partitioning of the insecticide chlorpyrifos between water and soil or water and sediments from the Rufiji Delta. The data were fitted to different adsorption-desorption models and the hysteresis index was calculated using the ratio between the Freundlich exponents for desorption and adsorption, and secondly, the difference in area under the normalized adsorption and desorption isotherms using the maximum adsorbed and solution concentrations. The data showed non-linear adsorption and that chlorpyrifos was strongly adsorbed to soil and sediments from the Rufiji Delta. The linearized adsorption coefficient (KD) and Freundlich adsorption coefficient (Kf) correlated significantly with organic carbon content. Chlorpyrifos adsorption as well as hysteresis calculated by both methods decreased with salinity (i.e. the sediment adsorbs increasing amounts of chlorpyrifos with decreasing salinity). This indicates that settling of freshwater sediments is among the major removal pathways of the chemical from the water column, but increased turbulence during high tides may resuspend settled sediment simultaneously increasing salinity and re-dissolve chlorpyrifos. However, discharge of fresh water, particularly during heavy rains, increases the trapping efficiency of the sediments. The theoretical approach developed showed that the Langmuir model describes the desorption data better than the Freundlich model, and that a better index of hysteresis is one that considers areas under the adsorption and desorption isotherms, provided the desorption isotherm is described by the normalized Langmuir isotherm and the adsorption isotherm by the normalized Freundlich isotherm

Pesticides in groundwater - two examples from Africa

To produce cash crops, pesticides are needed to a much higher degree in the tropics than in the temperate zones. When this need to use pesticides is coupled with low education among the users it's a perfect basis for environmental problems. However, the highest risk of pesticide contamination of water resources, including groundwater, is often not the direct use in agricultural fields, but point sources and "old sins". An additional problem is that substances that have been phased out in industrialised countries are still used in many parts of the world.Translation: Lewis Gruber.</p

Abstracts of Tanzania Health Summit 2020

This book contains the abstracts of the papers/posters presented at the Tanzania Health Summit 2020 (THS-2020) Organized by the Ministry of Health Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children (MoHCDGEC); President Office Regional Administration and Local Government (PORALG); Ministry of Health, Social Welfare, Elderly, Gender, and Children Zanzibar; Association of Private Health Facilities in Tanzania (APHFTA); National Muslim Council of Tanzania (BAKWATA); Christian Social Services Commission (CSSC); &amp; Tindwa Medical and Health Services (TMHS) held on 25–26 November 2020. The Tanzania Health Summit is the annual largest healthcare platform in Tanzania that attracts more than 1000 participants, national and international experts, from policymakers, health researchers, public health professionals, health insurers, medical doctors, nurses, pharmacists, private health investors, supply chain experts, and the civil society. During the three-day summit, stakeholders and decision-makers from every field in healthcare work together to find solutions to the country’s and regional health challenges and set the agenda for a healthier future. Summit Title: Tanzania Health SummitSummit Acronym: THS-2020Summit Date: 25–26 November 2020Summit Location: St. Gasper Hotel and Conference Centre in Dodoma, TanzaniaSummit Organizers: Ministry of Health Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children (MoHCDGEC); President Office Regional Administration and Local Government (PORALG); Ministry of Health, Social Welfare, Elderly, Gender and Children Zanzibar; Association of Private Health Facilities in Tanzania (APHFTA); National Muslim Council of Tanzania (BAKWATA); Christian Social Services Commission (CSSC); &amp; Tindwa Medical and Health Services (TMHS)