Soil Transmitted Helminth Contamination of Lettuce Irrigated With Wastewater during the Time of Harvest: A Case Study at Boadi Lettuce Farm
| dc.contributor.author | Poku, Eunice Dufie | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2013-12-12T08:49:33Z | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2023-04-20T03:26:04Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2013-12-12T08:49:33Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2023-04-20T03:26:04Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2012-12-12 | |
| dc.description | A Thesis Submitted to the Department of Theoretical and Applied Biology, College Of Science, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Award of the Degree of Master of Science (Environmental Science), December-2012 | en_US |
| dc.description.abstract | There has been an increasing interest in reuse of wastewater in agriculture over the last few decades due to increased demand for fresh water. Population growth, increased per capita use of water, the demands of industry and of the agricultural sector all put pressure on water resources. However, its use especially if untreated may pose danger to farmers as well as consumers because it may contain pathogens including helminthes. This study investigated soil-transmitted helminth contamination of lettuce cultivated with wastewater during the time of harvest at the Boadi lettuce farm, Kumasi. A total of 288 lettuce samples and water samples of irrigation wastewater were collected from February and April for examination. Helminth eggs were enumerated using the modified US-EPA concentration method. Focus group discussions were used to assess the risk factors of infection at the harvesting stage. The major type of helminths encountered were Ascaris lumbricoides, Hookworm and Trichuris trichiura with Ascaris lumbricoides being the most dominant (42.35%) and Trichuris trichiura (22.89%) being the least encountered. The total mean helminth eggs for the farm were 3.9 eggs/100g of lettuce. The Ascaris lumbricoides eggs ranged from 0-7 eggs per 100g lettuce. Mean helminth egg populations on the lettuce showed a monthly incidence of 3.5/100g, 3.5/100g and 4.5/100g of lettuce for the month of February, March and April respectively. The mean helminth egg populations for the water were 1.5/L, 1.2/L and 1.8/L for the month of February, March and April respectively. The study indicates that contamination of lettuce with helminths is still a major problem thus e effective farm interventions and washing of vegetables with sanitizers is required to reduce the risk of transmission and infection. | en_US |
| dc.description.sponsorship | KNUST | en_US |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://ir.knust.edu.gh/handle/123456789/5393 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | en_US |
| dc.title | Soil Transmitted Helminth Contamination of Lettuce Irrigated With Wastewater during the Time of Harvest: A Case Study at Boadi Lettuce Farm | en_US |
| dc.type | Thesis | en_US |
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