Environmental health and water sanitation

Objective. To assess the bacteriological and physical quality of locally packaged drinking water sold for public consumption.
Methods. This was cross-sectional study where a total of 60 samples of bottled water from 10 brands and 30 samples of sachet
water from 15 brands purchased randomly were analyzed for bacteriological contamination (total coliform and faecal coliform per
100 mL) usingmembrane filtrate method and reported in terms of cfu/100 mL. Results. Both bottled water and sachet water were not
contaminated with faecal coliform.Majority (70%, 21/30) of the sachetwater analyzed exceeded acceptable limits of 0 total coliforms
per 100mL set byWHOand the national drinking water standards.The physical quality (turbidity and pH) of all the packaged water
brands analyzed was within the acceptable limits.There was statistically significant difference between the median count of total
coliform in both sachet water and bottled water brands (𝑈(24) = 37.0, 𝑝 = 0.027). Conclusion. Both bottled water and sachet water
were not contaminated with faecal coliforms; majority of sachet waterwas contaminated with total coliformabove acceptable limits.
Government and other stakeholders should consider intensifying surveillance activities and enforcing strict hygienic measures in
this rapidly expanding industry to improve packaged water quality.

Background:
Food safety has become one of the ten threats to global health in 2019 and the outbreaks of foodborne diseases are major
public health problems and had caused approximately 76 million illness, 325,000 hospitalizations and 5000 deaths yearly. However,
20 - 40% of such illness is associated with the consumption of contaminated food where bukateria premises are the most frequently
cited  sources  of  sporadic  and  outbreak  foodborne  infection  including  WASH  related  diseases.  The  problem  is  more  noticeable  in 
developing countries due to prevailing poor food handling and sanitation practices, tokenistic and inadequate food safety laws, weak
regulatory systems, lack of financial resources to invest on safer equipment’s, and lack of education for food handlers.
Objectives:
This study assesses the environmental sanitation status of complexes in Iju offering public ‘Bukataria’ services, in Akure
North Local Government Area of Ondo State, South-West Nigeria.
Materials  and  Method: 
Purposive  sampling  technique  was  used,  36  respondents  from  16  bukarias  was  carried  out  from  April 
2013 to May 2013. Total number of bukateria was obtained from environmental health unit of Akure North Local Government. The
proprietors and food handlers were selected by lottery method from each selected bukateria. Structured and pretested questionnaire
was developed for the purpose of data collection after reviewing relevant literature and views of professionals in the area. Analyses
was  achieved  with  frequencies,  Chi-square  and  other  summary  statistics,  to  assess  food  vendors  knowledge  on  hygiene  and 
environmental sanitation practices.
Results:
Chi-square test (P = 0.1, 0.01) revealed that respondents with higher form of education (about 72%) and catering training
(6%) had better knowledge about food hygiene. Results also revealed that while 61% of the food vendors did not use aprons, only
about  half  of  those  that  used  (39%)  were  neat.75%  (12  out  of  16)  of  the  bukateria  had  facilities  for  safe  storage  of  cooked  food, 
while 56% kept neat kitchen and stores. Correspondingly, 31.3% of the bukateria were adequately ventilated while 75% kept neat
restaurant. 46% have access to means of adequate sewage disposal. All Bukateria had access to both portable water and adequate
refuse disposal system. Rodents (rats) and/or flies were absent in 75% of the bukateria visited. This study will have a significant
input, in the formulation of appropriate strategy, to modify and facilitate the overall regulatory activity, for program planning and
evaluation by environmental health officer.
Conclusion:
More needs to be done in the area of supportive supervision training, education, medical screening for food handlers
and  monitoring  in  order  to  further  improve  the  wellbeing  of  the  community.  These  therefore  demonstrate  the  need  for  targeted 
sanitation interventions in our Bukateria in order to address the current inadequate or lack of progress.

Impact Factor(JCC): 1.4507-This article can be downloaded from www.impactjournals.us ABSTRACT Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) involves the flow of solid waste generated by households, commercial developments, industries and institutions. Inadequate or improper management and disposal have serious consequences for the environment and human health. Improper management of MSW leads to many serious problems including ground water contamination. All major sites in developing countries are facing the problems of municipal solid waste management. Municipal waste disposal sites pose serious environmental threats to their surroundings and nearby resident due to contamination, pollution problems and health risks. In present investigation, water samples were collected in the study area during pre-monsoon and post-monsoon season from January to April 2012 and September to December 2012 and were analyzed for parameters includes pH, Turbidity, Hardness, Total Dissolved Solids, fluoride, Chloride, Sulphate, Nitrate, MPN etc. The results of collected water samples for both seasons show that the ground water is not potable within WHO guidelines, particularly in post monsoon season due to high bacterial contamination that may result in many waterborne diseases and other environmental problems.

Anemia is the most common nutritional problem worldwide, affecting human health and
socio-economic growth, significantly more than 89% burdensome for developing countries.
More than half of anemia cases are iron-deficiency anemia. Iron deficiency anemia is included
in the five causes of morbidity in humans, including children and adolescent. Iron deficiency
anemia is anemia related to insufficient storage of iron, and it is a consequence of reduced
iron intake in the diet, increased iron loss from the body, and increased iron requirements. Iron
deficiency anemia has a long-term effect on the brain and behavior and many other health
problems.

ABSTRACT: Physico-chemical and microbial status of 400 honey samples picked from 200 experienced apiculturists for laboratory elucidation based on indigenous processing techniques (IPTs) comprising (burning (B); crushing and straining (C&S); mashing and straining (M&S); boiling and straining (B&S)) reveals its quality defaults at various farm gates with significant variations (p<0.05) in pH, electrical conductivity (EC) and free acidity (FA) compared with total reducing sugar (TRS) and total viable microbial loads (TVMLs). The EC varied from (0.999 ± 0.001732 to 0.9997 ± 0.000577) μS/cm with the highest value from B&S IPT. The B; C&S and M&S IPTs resulted to lower FA values (8.10 ± 0.015, 9.50 ± 0.015 and 4.20 ± 0.030) me/kg respectively compared to B&S (10.00 ± 1.00 - 36.67 ± 0.58) me/kg. Greater variation in FA levels confirms the speculations of experts on its fluctuation tendency with honey. Indigenous B gave rise to both highest TRS (31%) and TVMLs (6.95 ± 0.044 cfu/ml). The entire IPTs ubiquitously impacted health threats on honey consumers emanating from microbial contamination. The C&S and M&S IPTs are proved as best honey processing techniques for large scale application at farmgates in Ghana because it conducts the highest counteractive pH to microbial invasions. Innovations on these improved methods could reduce consumer health risks by 90 to 95%.
Key words: Burning, crushing, mashing, straining, honey, physico-chemical, microbial load.