Lifestyle and Diet
Chuong Pham-Huy, Bruno Pham Huy in Food and Lifestyle in Health and Disease, 2022
Water pollution is any contamination of water with chemicals or other foreign substances that are detrimental to human, plant, or animal health (211). Due to the rapid growth of the world’s population and the development of industries, industrial and household waste in the environment, particularly in water, is also increasing considerably. Hence, natural water is now polluted everywhere. The main pollutants infecting water include fertilizers and pesticides from agricultural runoff; chemical wastes from pharmaceutical discharges; domestic sewage and food processing waste; plastic items for individual and collective use; and lead, mercury, and other heavy metals from different industries (212). Among them, plastic items are the main concern for ecosystems worldwide (213–214).
The Meatification of Diets
Bill Pritchard, Rodomiro Ortiz, Meera Shekar in Routledge Handbook of Food and Nutrition Security, 2016
Industrial monoculture and livestock production greatly increase the pull of agriculture on freshwater ecosystems through expanded irrigation demands, the thirst of concentrated livestock populations, and the large volumes needed for washing animal enclosures and slaughter and packing lines (Hoekstra 2013; 2012). These systems are also leading sources of water pollution including: persistent toxins from pesticides; excess nitrates and phosphates from fertilizers and concentrated livestock operations; and residues from animal pharmaceuticals, all of which translates into complex risks for ecosystems and public health and increases the challenges and resources needed for water treatment. The complexity of risks stems from the fact that it is impossible to know precisely how a wide array of pharmaceuticals and toxins will persist, interact, and affect bodily and ecosystem health, and how pests and pathogens will mutate and develop resistance to pesticides and antibiotics over time (sometimes described in terms of the threat of so-called ‘superweeds’ and ‘superbugs’ emerging) (Kirby 2010; Silbergeld et al. 2008; Pew Commission 2008; Schindler and Vallentyne 2008; Mallin and Cahoon 2003; McKenney 2002; Moore 2002; Marks 2001; Hooda et al. 2000). Industrial livestock is also disproportionately tied to the many ecological risks associated with genetic modification (GM) (Drucker 2015; Altieri 2004), as feed crops constitute a large share of world GM crop production (a range of GM livestock innovations are also under way).
Poverty *
Jamie Bartram, Rachel Baum, Peter A. Coclanis, David M. Gute, David Kay, Stéphanie McFadyen, Katherine Pond, William Robertson, Michael J. Rouse in Routledge Handbook of Water and Health, 2015
Clearly, the issues discussed in this chapter have public policy implications. On one hand, adequate integrated water management can contribute to poverty reduction along the four dimensions adopted in the poverty reduction framework of the Poverty-Environment Partnership (PEP 2006):Enhanced livelihoods security, assured by the provision of improved water services and the consequent opportunities for livelihoods improvement, with greater security and sustainability.Reduced health risks, through the mitigation of factors related to water management that put the poor and most vulnerable at risk from various diseases, poor nutrition and untimely death.Reduced vulnerability, by means of the reduction of threats from water hazards, such as floods, droughts and major storms; the rise in sea levels due to climate change; and the impact of water pollution, including saline intrusion.Pro-poor economic growth, facilitated by the improved management of water resources, especially where changes in water management are part of a wider development strategy aiming to create opportunities for poor people.
Appraisal of heavy metal toxicity in surface water with human health risk by a novel approach: a study on an urban river in vicinity to industrial areas of Bangladesh
Published in Toxin Reviews, 2021
Ram Proshad, Saiful Islam, Tanmoy Roy Tusher, Dan Zhang, Sujan Khadka, Jianing Gao, Satyajit Kundu
Water is the essential requisite for all life forms on earth (Bytyçi ET AL. 2018), and is also known as the most important irreplaceable natural resource on which the socio-economic growth, as well as the sustainable development of a country depends to a large extent (Yıldız 2017, Pobi ET AL. 2019). However, despite its importance, water is the most poorly managed resource in the world and is facing a serious threat as a result of the wide array of anthropogenic activities (Reza and Singh 2010, Islam ET AL.2013). As a means of human activities, rapid and indiscriminate growth of industries around the world is considered as the principal cause of global water pollution, particularly in the urban riverine environment where rivers are the endpoint of effluents discharged by industries (Pandey ET AL. 2019, Kumar ET AL. 2020). Owing to weakness in law enforcement and lack of regular monitoring, especially in the developing countries, most of the industries discharge untreated or inadequately treated industrial effluents into the surrounding surface water environment which subsequently deteriorates the overall quality of the water body by introducing various water pollutants including toxic heavy metals (Edokpayi ET AL. 2017, Ali ET AL. 2018).
Appraisal of surface water quality in vicinity of industrial areas and associated ecological and human health risks: a study on the Bangshi river in Bangladesh
Published in Toxin Reviews, 2022
Mahmuda Binte Latif, Md. Abul Kalam Khalifa, Mir Md. Mozammal Hoque, Md. Shakir Ahammed, Alisha Islam, Md. Humayun Kabir, Tanmoy Roy Tusher
Water quality index (WQI) is a modest procedure to describe the status of water quality, which is calculated from the point of aptness of surface water for human consumption (Atulegwu and Njoku 2004, Rahman et al. 2020, Aydin et al. 2021). It is a single number that expresses water quality by aggregating the measurements of water parameters i.e. dissolved oxygen, pH, nitrate and total hardness (Semiromi et al. 2011, Abtahi et al. 2015, Wu et al. 2017). This method is particularly useful in assessing the quality of river water as it helps to understand the overall water quality of individual sampling stations at a certain time (Gupta et al. 2017, Lkr et al. 2020). In addition, Pearson’s correlation analysis is a statistical tool to exhibit the degree of dependency and extent of association among different variables (Shil et al. 2019). Ecological risk index (ERI), hazard quotient (HQ) and hazard index (HI) are some other approaches used to assess the overall quality of water and evaluate the possibility of impacting environment and human body negatively (Boateng et al. 2015, Mukanyandwi et al. 2019). Considering these, the study aimed to determine the water quality based on WQI method in order to evaluate the pertinence of the river water, especially during the monsoon that is found to be the high-demand period for the utilization of Bangshi river water. Besides, this study aimed to identify the possible sources of water pollution as well as to ascertain the plausible human and ecological risks derived from consumption of river water.
Epidemiology of free-living amoebae in the Philippines: a review and update
Published in Pathogens and Global Health, 2022
Giovanni D. Milanez, Frederick R. Masangkay, Gregorio L. Martin I, Ma. Frieda Z Hapan, Edilberto P. Manahan, Jeffrey Castillo, Panagiotis Karanis
To the best of our knowledge, no report in FLA-related infections was ever included in the AMES national case reports of the DOH (see supplemental data). Also, no training and funding has been allocated to the identification of FLA in the Food and Water-Borne Disease Strategic plan for 2019–2023 in the country. This is strong evidence that FLA-related pathophysiology is either still relatively unknown or neglected and is a gaping hole in the health research agenda in the Philippines. The outcomes of the present review necessitate that a case definition for FLA-related infections be included in the country’s AMES surveillance program. Finally, studies on the potential of FLA to become a bioindicator of water pollution/contamination have been proposed by recent studies in selected lakes in the country [767778798081].
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