We can't find the internet
Attempting to reconnect
Something went wrong!
Hang in there while we get back on track
Emerging contaminants in Africa: A unifying challenge and the path to sustainable management
AI summary Read the abstract
This review pulls together what we know about "emerging contaminants" — everyday pollutants like drug residues, pesticides, industrial chemicals, and microplastics — building up in Africa's air, water, and soil faster than they can be tracked or regulated. The problem: there's not enough monitoring or research happening to know how much of this stuff is out there or how it's affecting people's health, which makes it hard to protect communities from potential risks. The authors suggest a roadmap — better testing tools, stronger regulations, and treating human, animal, and environmental health as connected — to close this gap before it becomes a bigger public health issue.
Emerging contaminants (ECs) have become a pervasive yet under-characterized threat to environmental integrity and public health across Africa. Rapid urbanization, industrial expansion, evolving consumption patterns, and inadequate waste management infrastructures are intensifying the release of pharmaceuticals, personal care products, pesticides, industrial chemicals, and microplastics into air, water, soil, and biota. Despite growing global attention, Africa remains a critical data-poor region, limiting the ability to assess risks, track transboundary pollution, or design evidence-based interventions. This review synthesizes current knowledge on the occurrence, sources, and ecological and human health implications of ECs across the continent, highlighting major geographic and sectoral hotspots in terms of research effort and output. It identifies the structural challenges underpinning the persistent management gap, including fragmented regulatory frameworks, limited analytical capacity, uneven monitoring coverage, and socio-economic constraints. To address these barriers, we propose a multi-pronged pathway toward sustainable EC management grounded in four complementary pillars: (i) strategic investments to fill data and monitoring gaps, (ii) context-appropriate adoption of advanced materials and treatment technologies for EC detection and remediation, (iii) strengthened and harmonized governance across regional economic communities, and (iv) a “One Health” approach that integrates environmental, human, and animal health considerations. Together, these elements outline an actionable, continent-specific roadmap that aligns with Africa's development aspirations while safeguarding ecosystems and public health.
More Papers Like This
Environmental Pollutants and Contaminants of Emerging Concern: An African Perspective
AI summary Read the abstract
This review examines contaminants of emerging concern in Africa — including pharmaceuticals, plastics, pesticides, and personal care products — documenting their presence in sediments, sludge, drinking water, and surface water across the continent. The authors highlight growing evidence of ecotoxicological impacts and call for stronger monitoring and regulatory responses in African contexts.
A planetary health model for addressing emerging contaminants in developing countries: Challenges and perspectives
AI summary Read the abstract
This review examines how emerging contaminants including microplastics, pharmaceuticals, and PFAS are increasingly detected in water, soil, and food chains in low- and middle-income countries, yet monitoring and governance remain fragmented. The authors propose a planetary health-informed model that links source mapping, targeted monitoring, risk ranking, and adaptive governance to help these nations manage contamination more effectively.
Overview of African water resources contamination by contaminants of emerging concern
AI summary Read the abstract
This review documented contamination of African water resources by pharmaceuticals, endocrine disruptors, pesticides, PFAS, and microplastics across all five continental regions, finding widespread contamination even in rural and groundwater sources. The authors highlighted major gaps in monitoring infrastructure and treatment capacity needed to protect African populations from these emerging contaminants.
Pollutants of Emerging Concern in Urban Wastewater Impacted Aquatic Environments and Management Recommendations
AI summary Read the abstract
This review identifies pharmaceuticals, microplastics, endocrine disruptors, and other emerging pollutants in urban wastewater-impacted African waterways, highlighting inadequate treatment infrastructure and recommending management strategies to protect aquatic ecosystems and public health.
Microplastics in African ecosystems: Current knowledge, abundance, associated contaminants, techniques, and research needs
AI summary Read the abstract
This review synthesized current knowledge on microplastic abundance, associated contaminants, and ecological effects in African ecosystems, a region that ranks among the highest in mismanaged plastic waste. Despite the scale of the problem, the review found insufficient environmental monitoring data from Africa, calling for continent-specific research to support accurate global risk assessments.
Research digests by email
When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.