VICTORIA

Lake Victoria supports 30 million people in its watershed and is a major economic resource for East Africa. The lake’s watershed is experiencing rapid urbanization and, consequently, increased risk of exposure to chemicals through the waste stream, watershed drainage and atmospheric input. The proposed study will assess profiles and sources of contaminants in the lake, as well as human exposure resulting from the pollution. The main aim is to make recommendations to authorities and stakeholders regarding mitigation of emissions and protection of human health. The target chemicals are perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) and chlorinated paraffins (CPs), which are emerging pollutants of global concern for their persistence in the environment and potential adverse health effects. Through analysis of archived sediment cores, surface sediment, lake and riverine water samples and bulk atmospheric deposition samples, historical deposition profiles, spatial distribution in the lake, sediment-water partitioning and influx rates of the target analytes will be estimated for the Ugandan part of the lake. This will enable assessing the influence of various sources, urbanization and population pressure on the contamination of the lake. The data will also facilitate understanding fate processes of the target analytes in the lake. Potential human exposure to the target analytes will be assessed through analysis of edible fish and samples from the Kampala municipal drinking water grid. The source water for drinking water production is pumped from Murchison Bay, which directly receives the drainage water as well as waste water treatment plant effluents from Kampala. The results gained in the project will be presented to authorities and stakeholders during a dissemination workshop in Uganda, and to scientists and the public through scientific publications and a press release.