Assessing the occurrence and human risks of persistence organic pollutants, toxic metals and pathogens in raw vegetables and irrigated water under tropical conditions, Kinshasa City, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Funding:

Congo Government & Faculty of Medicine, School of Public Health.

In Kinshasa, the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the urban agriculture provides almost 60% of the consumed vegetables. The river waters, untreated wastewater or hospital effluents for irrigation. No study had been performed; consequently, little is understood about the potential human risks associated with its use. This project is conducting to establish potential links between different effluent water quality and the organic/inorganic micropollutants (toxic metals, pesticides, PCBs, PAHs) as well as microbiological quality of fresh produce (mainly, the amaranthus viridus) irrigated with this water. The development of a map describing the contamination profile of the gardening sites in Kinshasa and assessment of the contamination risks as well as human exposure will be performed.

Contact and supervisors:

PhD students: Georgette Beni Ngweme Ngakiama & Goslin Gafuene Nkosi

Supervisor: John Poté

Partners: Universities of Kinshasa, Faculty of Medicine, School of Public Health and Faculty of Sciences.