The Role of Leather Microbes in Human Health

Leather tanned from raw hides and skins have been used to cover and protect the human body since early man. The skin of an animal carries thousands of microbes. Some are beneficial and protect the animal while others are pathogenic and cause diseases. Some microbes have no defined roles in animals. These microbes end up in the human body through contact with the animal skin. In recent years, the human body has been studied as an ecosystem where trillions of microorganisms live as a community called microbiome. Humans need beneficial microbes like Bacillus subtilis on the skin surface to stay healthy. Many microbes need the human body to survive. Not many studies have looked into the close link between animal leather and the human microbiome. The assumption is that conventional leather processes inhibit the pathogens on skins from carrying any risk of microbial hazard to the human body. This chapter identifies endemic microbes of “animal skin microbiome” that withstand extreme acidity and alkalinity of leather manufacture and their transmission to humans. Some cause allergic reactions, skin lesion, infections or death to tannery employees with weakened immune systems. This promotes the need to look at leather product microbiome impact on human health

ASSESSMENT OF TANNERY BASED SOLID WASTES MANAGEMENT IN ASILI, NAIROBI KENYA

Solid wastes generated in Nairobi and its environs are posing a serious environmental challenge to the authorities and public, especially the hazardous and non-biodegradable solid wastes from leather industries. There were environmental concerns and complaints from workers and residents living adjacent to Asili tanneries limited about degradation of natural and inbuilt environment. This pointed to the effect of environmental pollution by the tannery. The broad objective of study was to assess the effectiveness of tannery based solid wastes management, by identifying and analyzing the concentration levels of sodium chlorides,sulphide, chromium ions and total phenols as selected pollutants along the tanning stages, in Nairobi river, borehole water, and soils around the dump site inside the tannery. Experimental (laboratory analysis) design was used.Descriptive statistics was used in analyzing data resulting in means and tables. The means concentration of total Chrome was 2633.38mg/L,Sodium chloride 609.93mg/L, Sulphide 129.77mg/L, total Phenols 10.91mg/L in the soil sampled around the composite dump site.. In Nairobi river water the means of Sodium chloride was 317.48mg/L, Sulphide 24.00mg/L, total Phenol 3.97mg/L and total Chrome Nil, While means concentration in borehole water, had Sodium chloride detected at 354.73mg/L, Sulphide 6.67mg/L, total Phenol 0.03mg/L and total Chrome as Nil, indicating heavily contaminated ecosystems above the discharge set limits of National Environmental Management Authority and Nairobi city water and sewerage company