Heavy metal distribution in Wrigley Head, Moston Brook, Greater Manchester,Northwest England : implications for risk assessment and remediation

Heavy metal contaminated sites pose potential environmental and health problems and represent a great barrier to the beneficial use of contaminated sites. Therefore, the study of heavy metal contamination is a vital knowledge gap which, when filled, will facilitate development of sound management strategies to minimise the adverse environmental impacts and ensure remediation of contaminated sites. Within the context of a study site in Greater Manchester, UK, desk and laboratory studies were conducted to: (a) evaluate the relationship between XRF and aqua regia/ICP-OES derived heavy metal data, (b) investigate the multiple sources of historical heavy metal contamination, (c) investigate small-scale spatial variation in heavy metal contamination across the study site, (d) assess heavy metal uptake by different herbaceous plant species, and (e) make recommendations to overcome the barrier of heavy metal contamination at the site. The results indicated that there was a strong relationship between the concentrations of heavy metals yielded by XRF and aqua regia/ICP-OES techniques across the study site and suggest that XRF is a rapid, cost effective and preferred technique for determination of targeted elements from the investigated soils compared to conventional aqua regia/ICP-OES technique. XRF technique demonstrated the capacity to measure the targeted elements from the investigated soils in relatively shorter times compared to conventional aqua regia/ICP-OES technique. The desk study revealed that the site suffers from multiple historical contamination and forms a legacy of potential source of unknown contaminants. This represents a big barrier to overcoming the challenges occasioned by historical contamination across the site. The site was heavily contaminated by multiple heavy metals at levels above UK and EU tolerable limits. There was a high spatial variation in heavy metal contamination across the site with Football Ground having relatively higher heavy metal contamination compared to the soils elsewhere around Wrigley Head. Based on the site conditions and levels of contamination at the site, revegetation of the site with plants and surface capping were suggested as feasible remediation options for the site. The study conducted to examine the uptake of heavy metals by herbaceous plants growing across the site suggests that metal uptake by the investigated plants was highly variable, leading to identification of some hyper-accumulating plants from the site. The findings obtained from this study have implications for environmental risk assessment and remediation of Wrigley Head, Moston Brook

Canarium schweinfurthii stone-derived biochar: A promising adsorbent for crystal violet dye removal

In this study, the effectiveness of C. schweinfurthii biochar (CSSB) for the adsorption of aqueous crystal violet dye (CVD) was investigated. Batch mode experiments were conducted to examine the influence of different process variables on the dye adsorption capacity of the CSSB. The surface chemistry and morphology of the adsorbent were elucidated using the Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersion X-ray (SEM/EDX), respectively. At optimum adsorption conditions (50 mg/L adsorbate concentration, 303 K and 35 min), a maximum removal efficiency of 90.04% was achieved. The experimental equilibrium and kinetic data were best fit to the Freundlich isotherm and Elovich kinetics models, respectively. The thermodynamic evaluation showed average Gibbs free energy (ΔGo), entropy change (ΔSo) and enthalpy change, (ΔHo) values of −1647.18 KJ/mol, −58.69 KJ/mol K and −173.10 KJ/mol, respectively. These thermodynamic data demonstrated that CVD adsorption onto CSSB was favourable, spontaneous, and exothermic. Any doubts about the adsorbent's economic viability were allayed by its projected cost of 0.0003 USSD/g per gram of adsorbate. Thus, according to the experimental results, the CSSB is considered an economical, effective, and environmentally friendly adsorbent for aqueous CVD adsorption

Tick infestations and gastrointestinal helminthosis among goats and cattle at abattoirs in Abakaliki Metropolis, Ebonyi State, Nigeria

Parasitism and parasitosis constitute serious animal health problems that predispose them to other more serious health conditions. Such conditions can reduce their productivity and marketability, thereby reducing their economic values. A total of 126 livestock comprising 63 goats and 63 cattle from abattoirs in Abakaliki Metropolis were subjected to ectoparasitic and gastrointestinal parasitic examinations, using approved standard diagnostic parasitological techniques. The recovered parasites were identified with standard identification guides. Rhipicephalus sanguineus and R. microplus were the two recovered ectoparasites from both groups of animal. There was no significant difference (p = 0.0859) in the prevalence of the tick species between the animals. Dictyocaulus species was the most abundant gastrointestinal helminth infecting both goats and cattle. There was no complete dominance of parasite species infecting the two groups of animal but the Shannon-Weiner diversity index indicated high parasite diversity for both goats and cattle. Periodic application of efficacious acaricides mixed (sequential) grazing and regular deworming with the use of strategic broad spectrum chemotherapeutic anthelmintics are strongly recommended.Keywords: Cattle; goats; helminthes; infestations; tick

The Effect Of Potassium Bromate On Some Haematological Parameters Of Wistar Rats

Potassium bromate used widely in foods has been associated with various complications in humans. However there is paucity of literature on adverse effects on haematological parameters. Thus we decided to carry out an experimental study to determine the effects of potassium bromate on some blood indices using Wister rats. Twenty (20) male Wister rats aged 2-3 months obtained from the department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Nigeria Nsukka were acclimatized for two weeks. They were divided into five groups and fed with graded doses of potassium bromate solution for six weeks. One of the groups served as the control. Pre and post administration blood samples were collected and analyzed the same day using standard methods. The results revealed significant decrease in the platelet count when compared with the controls (P<0.05). There were no statistically significant differences in the mean Cell haemoglobin concentration, haematocrit, and total leukocyte counts between the test and control rats. Potassium bromate is injurious to health if consumed continuously and in high quantity. It has been shown to reduce platelet count in rats, and thus may cause thrombocytopenia in humans. It is therefore imperative to take adequate measures to eliminate the use of potassium bromate in the preparation of food product

A Novel Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus t11469 and a Poultry Endemic Strain t002 (ST5) Are Present in Chicken in Ebonyi State, Nigeria

Background. The changing epidemiology of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) from a hospital-associated pathogen to an organism commonly found in the community and in livestock reflects an organism well-equipped to survive in diverse environments and adjust to different environmental conditions including antimicrobial use. Methods. We investigated the molecular epidemiology of S. aureus and MRSA in poultry in Ebonyi State, Nigeria. Samples were collected from 1800 birds on 9 different farms within the state. Positive isolates were tested for antibiotic susceptibility and molecular typing. Results. Prevalence in birds was 13.7% (247/1800). MRSA prevalence in poultry was 0.8%. The prevalence of MRSA in broilers and layers was 1.2% and 0.4%, respectively. All tested isolates were susceptible to vancomycin. Molecular analysis of the isolates revealed 3 spa types: t002, t084, and a novel spa type, t11469. The novel spa type t11469 belonged to sequence type ST5. Conclusion. The detection of t002 in chicken suggests the presence of livestock-associated MRSA in poultry in Ebonyi State. The detection of the new spa type t11469 in poultry that has not been characterised to ascertain its pathogenic potential remains a cause for concern, especially as some were found to carry PVL genes, a putative virulence factor in staphylococcal infection

The relationship between water, sanitation and schistosomiasis : a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Access to "safe" water and "adequate" sanitation are emphasized as important measures for schistosomiasis control. Indeed, the schistosomes' lifecycles suggest that their transmission may be reduced through safe water and adequate sanitation. However, the evidence has not previously been compiled in a systematic review. METHODOLOGY: We carried out a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies reporting schistosome infection rates in people who do or do not have access to safe water and adequate sanitation. PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and the Cochrane Library were searched from inception to 31 December 2013, without restrictions on year of publication or language. Studies' titles and abstracts were screened by two independent assessors. Papers deemed of interest were read in full and appropriate studies included in the meta-analysis. Publication bias was assessed through the visual inspection of funnel plots and through Egger's test. Heterogeneity of datasets within the meta-analysis was quantified using Higgins' I2. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Safe water supplies were associated with significantly lower odds of schistosomiasis (odds ratio (OR) = 0.53, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.47-0.61). Adequate sanitation was associated with lower odds of Schistosoma mansoni, (OR = 0.59, 95% CI: 0.47-0.73) and Schistosoma haematobium (OR = 0.69, 95% CI: 0.57-0.84). Included studies were mainly cross-sectional and quality was largely poor. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our systematic review and meta-analysis suggests that increasing access to safe water and adequate sanitation are important measures to reduce the odds of schistosome infection. However, most of the studies were observational and quality was poor. Hence, there is a pressing need for adequately powered cluster randomized trials comparing schistosome infection risk with access to safe water and adequate sanitation, more studies which rigorously define water and sanitation, and new research on the relationships between water, sanitation, hygiene, human behavior, and schistosome transmissio