Preliminary Review of Sources, Fate, Analytical Challenges and Regulatory Status of Emerging Organic Contaminants in Aquatic Environments in Selected African Countries

• DOI: 10.1007/s42250-019-00079-6
• Publication Date: 2019-06-27T17:02:45Z
• Authors: Nnanake-Abasi O. ...; Edu J. Inam; John B. Edet
• Keywords: Triclocarban

Emerging contaminants (ECs) have received great attention in developed countries and as such some of them have received priority screening and regulatory guidelines proposed. However, due to the requirements of highly sensitive and sophisticated analytical equipment, research on this subject in developing countries in Africa are very scarce. We carried out a review of published data from southern and western African region in order to: (1) highlight the environmental concentrations of ECs in West and Southern Africa and bring to light the analytical challenges in order to elicit discussions on solutions, (2) analyse the state of science regarding ECs in African environment and summarise available data for comparative analysis. Generally, the study reveals that in spite of the scanty data reported, levels of ECs are in the upper range of global concentrations. Monitoring data are increasing yearly, although at a very slow rate. Environmentally relevant levels reported are high enough to cause potential risks. Priority monitoring of phenolic endocrine disrupting compounds, phthalate esters, triclosan, triclocarban and some pharmaceutical active compounds (PhACs) like ibuprofen are recommended due to high frequency of detection. Understudied compounds should be prioritized for toxicity studies, monitoring and potential risk evaluation in order to increase knowledge on their sources and fate for proper management.