Tuesday, June 14, 2016
Wednesday, June 1, 2016
Health hazards exposure to road repair manual labourers
Hello everybody,
As our youth are struggling here and there looking for a job of one form or another, care should be taken on the kind of occupation that they engage in.Some unscrupulous construction companies "specialize" in small civil works such as periodic road repairs which are labour intensive because they have a tendency to prey on easily available unskilled labourers from the general public, such companies generally refuse to grow for the simple fact that it pays more where they are as rules and regulations that govern construction companies of higher grades affect them the least.
One could dwell on the amounts of remuneration paid to the said labourers and make enough of a story but this is about their well-being.
In repairing pot holes in paved roads they boil bitumen to melting point and mix it with aggregates to make patches on the road, the bitumen, or tar, is boiled in open trays made of metal sheets and is stirred constantly using wooden sticks to make it melt uniformly. After melting it is scooped out using ladles and poured in steel buckets and then transferred to the potholes.
Boiling bitumen issues vapours that contain Poly-cyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons or PAHs. At 160 to 250 degrees centigrade range of temperature, where bitumen is in molten form, the following PAHs are contained in its vapours;-
As our youth are struggling here and there looking for a job of one form or another, care should be taken on the kind of occupation that they engage in.Some unscrupulous construction companies "specialize" in small civil works such as periodic road repairs which are labour intensive because they have a tendency to prey on easily available unskilled labourers from the general public, such companies generally refuse to grow for the simple fact that it pays more where they are as rules and regulations that govern construction companies of higher grades affect them the least.
One could dwell on the amounts of remuneration paid to the said labourers and make enough of a story but this is about their well-being.
In repairing pot holes in paved roads they boil bitumen to melting point and mix it with aggregates to make patches on the road, the bitumen, or tar, is boiled in open trays made of metal sheets and is stirred constantly using wooden sticks to make it melt uniformly. After melting it is scooped out using ladles and poured in steel buckets and then transferred to the potholes.
Boiling bitumen issues vapours that contain Poly-cyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons or PAHs. At 160 to 250 degrees centigrade range of temperature, where bitumen is in molten form, the following PAHs are contained in its vapours;-
- Phenanthrene
- Anthracene
- Fluoranthene
- Pyrene
- Chrysene
- Perylene
- Benzo[k]fluoranthene
- Benzo[a]pyrene
- Benzo[g,h,i]perylene.
These compounds exist in various concentrations in bitumen vapour but all of them are proven causes of several types of cancer if inhaled.It is not possible to work on road repair in the conditions at which the small companies in question operate without inhaling the fumes directly because one reason these companies refuse to grow is so that they can evade OSHA regulations, such as wearing breathing masks for their workers.
It is important that the public is aware of these health hazards so that pressure can be built to push the government into looking on how to force these companies to comply with the rule of law, otherwise we stand to loose a considerable number of our youth by cancer and other related diseases.
Friday, May 6, 2016
Of pesticide laden cooking stove smoke!!
As are other things in sub Saharan Africa,especially in rural areas,the cooking is basic,one could be justified in saying...barely more advanced than during the stone age!!
An earthern cooking pot sits on top of three stones arranged in a triangular pattern on the bare ground with firewood protruding from the three holes in between the stones is our cooking place.
The firewoods are the only source of heat energy available for the cooking.
This setup is the basis for many a request for improvement of the system by introduction of biogas technology,utilising animal and farm waste to generate cooking energy in a cleaner atmosphere so as to save villagers from catching or aggravating respiratory diseases.
But this can get worse...!
In coffee farming regions,especially in large plantations run by foreign investors, the coffee trees are uprooted after three to five years since planting,depending on variety.The uprooted coffee trees, which are usually sprayed with pesticides for all their lifetime to maximize yield are sold to villagers living near the plantations to be used as firewood!!
But what to expect if you are burning as firewood a pesticide laden piece of coffee tree,the smoke can not be pesticide free of course!!
So we have crisis for women and children in these areas (they are the ones most affected by cooking and staying around the kitchen longest).
Areas affected are Kilimajaro,Kagera,Arusha,Tukuyu,Manyara and other coffee farming araeas.
Take care pls.
An earthern cooking pot sits on top of three stones arranged in a triangular pattern on the bare ground with firewood protruding from the three holes in between the stones is our cooking place.
The firewoods are the only source of heat energy available for the cooking.
This setup is the basis for many a request for improvement of the system by introduction of biogas technology,utilising animal and farm waste to generate cooking energy in a cleaner atmosphere so as to save villagers from catching or aggravating respiratory diseases.
But this can get worse...!
In coffee farming regions,especially in large plantations run by foreign investors, the coffee trees are uprooted after three to five years since planting,depending on variety.The uprooted coffee trees, which are usually sprayed with pesticides for all their lifetime to maximize yield are sold to villagers living near the plantations to be used as firewood!!
But what to expect if you are burning as firewood a pesticide laden piece of coffee tree,the smoke can not be pesticide free of course!!
So we have crisis for women and children in these areas (they are the ones most affected by cooking and staying around the kitchen longest).
Areas affected are Kilimajaro,Kagera,Arusha,Tukuyu,Manyara and other coffee farming araeas.
Take care pls.
Tuesday, April 5, 2016
The peanut story and aflatoxins
Hello! good day,
Peanuts,or groundnuts or karanga in Kiswahili go into a number of East African recipes,they are constituents of vegetable stews,soups etc.But they are also eaten raw (fresh as well as dried) and roasted too.
In most Tanzanian towns vendors sell roasted peanuts in small plastic packaging of around twenty to fifty grams or scoop them out of an open basket resting on the arm by a spoon and pours inside a newspaper cone temporarily made for the task.They have a stomach filling effect if swept down with a glass of water, perfect for low class hustlers as a substitute for lunch or breakfast if you ask me.
But there is a catch, who is monitoring the supply chain of this seemingly innocent farm produce from the farm to your mouth,so to speak?
Peanuts,or groundnuts or karanga in Kiswahili go into a number of East African recipes,they are constituents of vegetable stews,soups etc.But they are also eaten raw (fresh as well as dried) and roasted too.
In most Tanzanian towns vendors sell roasted peanuts in small plastic packaging of around twenty to fifty grams or scoop them out of an open basket resting on the arm by a spoon and pours inside a newspaper cone temporarily made for the task.They have a stomach filling effect if swept down with a glass of water, perfect for low class hustlers as a substitute for lunch or breakfast if you ask me.
But there is a catch, who is monitoring the supply chain of this seemingly innocent farm produce from the farm to your mouth,so to speak?
- What are the post harvest cautionary measures in countering the onset of aflatoxins at the farm?
- How long do they store on-site before sending the produce to markets?
- What is the quality of this storage?
- What is the transportation environment like?
- How is the produce stored at the other end so as to allow the little amounts roasted day after day to hold out for the whole period up to next harvest season?
Aflatoxins,according to the www.wikipedia.org can be defined as: poisonous and cancer-causing chemicals that are produced by certain molds (Aspergillus flavus andAspergillus parasiticus)
which grow in soil, decaying vegetation, hay, and grains.
They are regularly found in improperly stored staple
commodities such as cassava, chili peppers, corn, cotton
seed, millet, peanuts, rice,sorghum, sunflower seeds, tree
nuts, wheat, and a variety of spices.
Sources
Tuesday, March 22, 2016
What is "LIPOPHILICITY?" and how to go about it?
Lipophilicity is a tendency of some organic chemicals (pesticides and herbicides) to be soluble in fats and oils and consequently be capable of accumulating in fatty tissues of animals and human beings.Most organic pesticides, especially of the organochlorine family eg. heptachlor and DDT and its derivatives, tend to get into tissues of animals as residues after agricultural application by contaminating grazing land and crop based animal feed.
These get deposited into the carcasses that we eat but NOT in plain flesh,they love FATTY tissue,thats where they are soluble.
Next time you attend a nyama choma festival eat lean meat, avoid slabs of fat (hard drinkers tend to lean towards fatty meat,possibly as a remedy!!).
WHY?
These organochlorides are culprits for our increasing cancer cases and other nasty health problems you probably wouldn't like reading about immediately.
OTHER bad organic compounds that are also carcinogenic and lipophilic are the PAH(Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons) eg. 'Benzo(a) pyrene' the witch in cigarette smoke.
Source;various online media.
Smaller is better,smart eating!!
See what you get yourself into when you choose the biggest among fish/chicken/fruits/vegetables etc.
...in an environmental perspective the bigger a fish is(logically the older too) implies that it has accumulated the most toxic materials in its foraging and these are carried along inside its tissues,same goes for poultry(consider antibiotics accumulation).You can extrapolate the concept to veggies and fruits.
So next time you think of getting the maximum out of your money choose the smallest (youngest) of these.
...in an environmental perspective the bigger a fish is(logically the older too) implies that it has accumulated the most toxic materials in its foraging and these are carried along inside its tissues,same goes for poultry(consider antibiotics accumulation).You can extrapolate the concept to veggies and fruits.
So next time you think of getting the maximum out of your money choose the smallest (youngest) of these.
Be careful what you do with green leafy vegetables
Hello,for those of us who try to circumvent kids' refusal to eat green veggies by boiling the vegetables and making them drink the green extract,STOP!.
Some green leafy vegetables eg.spinach,swiss chard and the brassicas (cabbage, broccoli, brussels, sprouts) contain Oxalic acid in such significant amounts that even eating them straight at more than a moderate serving on a regular basis itself threatens your health.
Oxalic acid H2CO4 is an acid that occurs in nature, it is one of the constituents of urine by being among the bodily waste matter mix.
It is part of a lot of food types that we eat at a moderate concentration but some contain just too much for safe metabolism and disposal.Spinach for instance contains 645mg/100grms raw and 755mg/100grms cooked!, the increase is caused by the process of cooking!!.
But what is wrong with oxalic acid?
Oxalic acid has a tendence of shedding the "H2" and acquiring metallic ions in its place to form metal oxalates, eg CaCO4, Na2CO4, MgCO4 etc. Among these CaCO4 (calcium Oxalate) has the unwelcome quality of being the maker of Kidney stones (renal calculi).
75% of kidney stones in the USA originates from calcium oxalate!
So to stay safe better eat the whole spinach material instead of boiling to extract the green juice because by doing so you maximise the concentration of oxalic acid consumed per 100mg and increase chances of forming calcium oxalate in your kidneys.
Compiled from wikipedia and other sources.
Some green leafy vegetables eg.spinach,swiss chard and the brassicas (cabbage, broccoli, brussels, sprouts) contain Oxalic acid in such significant amounts that even eating them straight at more than a moderate serving on a regular basis itself threatens your health.
Oxalic acid H2CO4 is an acid that occurs in nature, it is one of the constituents of urine by being among the bodily waste matter mix.
It is part of a lot of food types that we eat at a moderate concentration but some contain just too much for safe metabolism and disposal.Spinach for instance contains 645mg/100grms raw and 755mg/100grms cooked!, the increase is caused by the process of cooking!!.
But what is wrong with oxalic acid?
Oxalic acid has a tendence of shedding the "H2" and acquiring metallic ions in its place to form metal oxalates, eg CaCO4, Na2CO4, MgCO4 etc. Among these CaCO4 (calcium Oxalate) has the unwelcome quality of being the maker of Kidney stones (renal calculi).
75% of kidney stones in the USA originates from calcium oxalate!
So to stay safe better eat the whole spinach material instead of boiling to extract the green juice because by doing so you maximise the concentration of oxalic acid consumed per 100mg and increase chances of forming calcium oxalate in your kidneys.
Compiled from wikipedia and other sources.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)