Exposure of rural households to toxic cyanobacteria in container-stored water

29Citations
Citations of this article
30Readers
Mendeley users who have this article in their library.

Abstract

Cyanobacteria are potent producers of cyanotoxins that may present a health risk to people. This is especially important in rural areas where people use untreated surface water, containing cyanobacteria, for household purposes including cooking and drinking. Water is collected from these sources mainly in plastic containers, transported home and stored during use. This study investigated the occurrence of cyanobacteria and their associated toxins in these containers as well as in the associated surface water sources. The results suggest that cyanobacteria are transferred from the water sources to the containers and then survive and possibly grow in biofilm forming inside the vessels. Their associated cyanotoxins were not found in any health-significant quantities in containers. However, the occurrence of cyanobacteria in the water used by the households collected in containers clearly indicates that it can be an important route of exposure especially if toxic cyanobacteria are present in the source water. In several cases a risk of cyano-intoxication might exist unless the households undertake preventative measures.

References Powered by Scopus

Get full text
1293Citations
580Readers

This article is free to access.

Get full text

Cited by Powered by Scopus

This article is free to access.

19Citations
50Readers
Get full text

Register to see more suggestions

Mendeley helps you to discover research relevant for your work.

Already have an account?

Cite

CITATION STYLE

APA

Fosso-Kankeu, E., Jagals, P., & Du Preez, H. (2008). Exposure of rural households to toxic cyanobacteria in container-stored water. Water SA, 34(5), 631–636. https://doi.org/10.4314/wsa.v34i5.180660

Readers over time

‘11‘12‘13‘14‘15‘16‘17‘18‘19‘20‘21‘22‘23‘2402468

Readers' Seniority

Tooltip

PhD / Post grad / Masters / Doc 11

52%

Professor / Associate Prof. 5

24%

Researcher 3

14%

Lecturer / Post doc 2

10%

Readers' Discipline

Tooltip

Environmental Science 8

35%

Agricultural and Biological Sciences 6

26%

Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceut... 5

22%

Chemistry 4

17%

Save time finding and organizing research with Mendeley

Sign up for free
0