A total of 16 people died and over 500 people were hospitalized due to diarrhoeal illness in the Bholakpur area of Hyderabad, India on 6th May 2009. A study was conducted with immediate effect to evaluate the quality of municipal tap water of the Bholakpur locality. The study consists of the determination of physico-chemical properties, trace metals, heavy metals, rare earth elements and microbiological quality of drinking water. The data showed the variation of the investigated parameters in samples as follows: pH 7.14 to 8.72, EC 455 to 769 μS/cm, TDS 303.51 to 515.23 ppm and DO 1.01 to 6.83 mg/L which are within WHO guidelines for drinking water quality. The water samples were analyzed for 27 elements (Li, Be, B, Na, Mg, Al, Si, K, Ca, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Co, Cu, Zn, As, Se, Rb, Sr, Mo, Ag, Cd, Sb, Ba and Pb) using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The concentrations of Fe (0.12 to 1.13 mg/L), Pb (0.01 to 0.07 mg/L), Cu (0.01 to 0.19 mg/L), Ni (0.01 to 0.15 mg/L), Al (0.16 to 0.49 mg/L), and Na (38.36 to 68.69 mg/L) were obtained, which exceed the permissible limits of the World Health Organization (WHO) for drinking water quality guidelines. The remaining elements were within the permissible limits. The microbiological quality of water was tested using standard plate count, membrane filtration technique, thermotolerant coliform (TTC), and most probable number (MPN) methods. The total heterotrophic bacteria ranged from 1.0 × 10(5) to 18 × 10(7 )cfu/ml. Total viable bacteria in all the water samples were found to be too numerable to count and total number of coliform bacteria in all water samples were found to be of order of 1,100 to >2,400 MPN index/100 ml. TTC tested positive for coliform bacteria at 44.2°C. All the water samples of the study area exceeded the permissible counts of WHO and that (zero and minimal counts) of the control site (National Geophysical Research Institute) water samples. Excessively high colony numbers indicate that the water is highly contaminated with microorganisms and is hazardous for drinking purposes. Bacteriological pollution of drinking water supplies caused diarrhoeal illness in Bholakpur, which is due to the infiltration of contaminated water (sewage) through cross connection, leakage points, and back siphoning.
Geophagia is widespread in rural Ghana and particularly among pregnant and breastfeeding women. The perceptions of the practitioners to ingest the geophagic materials generally are not based on science and data but are hinged often on cultural and traditional beliefs and sometimes thought as substitute to treat some ailments without the use of medicine. The geophagic materials are earth products and could contain essential and harmful elements as well as materials that may have detrimental impact to human health. To assess the health risks accompanying the consumption of geophagic material, twenty geophagic materials were analyzed geochemically using Ultra Trace Aqua Regia ICP-MS analytical technique and with Qualitative X-Ray Diffraction analysis (XRD Qual) for the mineralogical phases. The results revealed quartz as the abundant mineral (average, 54.30%). The chemical analysis also revealed depletions of the analyzed elements. The health risk assessment showed the practitioners risk consuming the geophagic materials because the health risk indices for Pb and Cr were >1. Again, the substantial amount of quartz in the geophagic materials may damage the dental enamel during mastication and as well erode the gastro-intestinal lining and perforate the sigmoid colon of which the outcome will be stomach disorders.
Geophagy is practised all over the world but it is still challenging to attest to the safety of the practitioners as the provenance and geochemistry of clays ingested are not fully understood. Clay can form over all types of rocks but the mineralogical and chemical compositions may vary. Significance of provenance and geochemical studies in Southern Africa aided in the identification of some elements and minerals which upon their ingestion affect human developments to be reduced as part of recommendations from that investigation. Published articles in geophagy in Ghana indicate lack of investigations in provenance and geochemistry into clays used in geophagia, even though the practice is nationwide and very common in rural Ghana. The variability of the geochemistry across landscape and different provenance of clays recognized elsewhere in similar geological settings motivated the review of geophagy in Ghana since similar clay occurrence can exist in similar geologic province. The after review comments by the authors is that the understanding of the provenance and geochemistry of clays used in the practice can lead to approval of removing or reducing some known toxic elements and minerals to make the practice safe and attractive and therefore recommend the investigation into provenance and geochemistry of clays to be used as geophagic materials in Ghana.
The study area is located at the southern end of the Gorouol greenstone belt, northwestern Niger. This region contains significant deposits of Copper and Molybdenum hosted in intrusive rocks metamorphosed in the green shale facies. This deposit was previously considered a porphyry system of Copper (Cu) and Molybdenum (Mo) without having been the subject of advanced research. The objective of this study is to confirm or refute this hypothesis and to date the mineralisation in an absolute manner in order to readjust the mineralising episode in the history of the West African Craton. The methodology used within the framework of this study is the isotopic dating by the Re-Os method carried out on the pyrites of the host rock. The results of this analysis give an age range between 2158 ± 50 Ma and 2110 ± 51 Ma for the Cu-Mo mineralisation. This age range represents the West African Craton scale to an episode of magmatic accretion. During this accretion, the subduction phenomena between the Crusts (Oceanic and Continental) would have been favourable for the formation of the Cu and Mo mineralisation of Kourki.
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