Thesis (MTech (Environmental Health))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2010 / Air pollution is a global problem and it can also have a larger impact in developing countries like South-Africa. Mossel Bay was one of the regions in the Western-Cape that was rated to have potentially poor air quality. With above mentioned in mind, the research was done in Bayview. Bayview is a upper income suburb of Mossel-Bay. The suburb is surrounded by industrial activities that increased the possibility of a bad status of the air. This research measured the concentrations of the primary pollutants, SO2, NO2, PM10, O3 en Benzine, as well as the meteorological data for a period of one year as from the 1st October 2008 to the 30th of September 2009. The monitoring was done by using the mobile air quality monitoring station of the Western Cape Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning's that was situated in Mossel Bay. The research also correlated with the human aspects of air quality control and the monitoring results. The quality of life of the Bayview residents was measured by using a structured questionnaire. The questionnaire had amongst others, obtained the symptoms of certain air quality related diseases that the 114 respondents have recorded for the responding period of air quality monitoring. Other aspects that were researched were obtaining the social status, exposure, and work exposure and health consciousness of the respondents. Air quality surveys can fail if not put in the context of the perceptions of the affected communities. Therefore the perceptions of the respondents were also tested by a structured questionnaire. Aspects of perceptions that were tested were amongst others, the visual influence of perceptions, exposure, social status and the perception of the hazard. The results of the monitoring station for the period from 1st October 2008 to 30 September 2009, were compared with the proposed standards of the National Environmental Management: Air Quality Act (Act 39 of 2004) South-African National Ambient Air Quality Standards, as well as the SANS 1929 target values for PM10. There were no exceedences of the measured pollutants against the National Air Quality Standards. The results found that the SANS 1929 standards were also not exceeded for SO2, NO2, O' and C6H6. The concentrations of PM10 equaled the SANS standards of 75pg/m3 on a few occasions. However, the SANS 1929 daily target values of 50pg/m3 were exceeded on a few occasions. Overall though, the air quality status of the research area was within the legislative conditions. Twenty six point three percent (26.3% n = 30) of the respondents did not indicate any symptoms of any air quality related illnesses during the study period.

Dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Master of Technology: Environmental Management in the Faculty of Applied Science at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology / Greywater is domestic wastewater from daily kitchen, laundry, bath, shower, hand washing practices and does not include wastewater from the toilet. Greywater from informal settlement has been identified as important environmental pollution sources. Inadequate sanitation and poor drainage in informal settlements result in greywater being stagnant at the base of communal taps. This water has a potential to cause health problems to those who come in contact with it. Studies of greywater quality in informal settlements in South Africa tend to concentrate on physico-chemical analysis and microbial indicator organisms. In order to adequately manage greywater in informal settlements there is a need to understand the microbial pathogens present in such water. Therefore this study is aimed at determining the level of microbial contamination of stagnant greywater in the RR Section of Khayelitsha, Western Cape. Six sampling sites were identified and sampling of stagnant greywater was conducted twice a month (from January to May 2013) from the base of six communal taps, which served as the sampling sites. The microbial enumeration techniques employed in this study were the Most Probable Number (MPN) techniques, the Heterotrophic Plate Count (HPC) technique and the Flow Cytometric (FCM) technique. The API 20E and the RapID™ ONE systems were used to identify possible pathogenic Gram-negative microorganisms, while possible pathogenic Gram-positive microorganisms were identified with the BBL Crystal™ Gram Positive (GP) Identification (ID) system. The highest MPN counts were 1.6 x 108 microorganisms/100mℓ recorded at Site A (weeks 3 and 5) as well as at Site B (week 5). The corresponding highest faecal coliform count was 4.7 x 106 microorganisms/100mℓ obtained at Site B (week 5). The highest E. coli count observed was 1.8 x 106 microorganisms/100mℓ recorded at Site A (week 5) and Site F (week 5). In comparison, the highest HPC count was 2.9 x105 microorganisms/mℓ recorded at Site C in week 4. The results obtained by the MPN and HPC techniques were significantly (p < 0.05) higher than the water quality standards by Department of Water Affairs and Forestry (DWAF) (1996a; 1996b) and the SABS (2011). The highest total FCM and viable FCM counts were 3.4 x 107 microorganisms/mℓ and 3.1 x 107 microorganisms/mℓ, respectively recorded at Site A in week 5. The FCM technique displayed significantly (p < 0.05) higher results than both the MPN and HPC techniques, which highlighted its reliability in obtaining more accurate enumeration results. The RapID™ ONE and the API 20E identification systems mostly identified Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumonia, K. oxytoca, Acinetobacter baumannii/calcoaceticus and Enterobacter cloacae, while the organisms more commonly identified by the BBL Crystal™ Gram Positive (GP) Identification (ID) system, were the Corynebacterium species, and Bacillus cereus. The presence of these organisms raises health concern to the community of RR Section, as some are known to cause waterborne diseases, while others are known to cause nosocomial infections.

The southeastern coast of South Africa is deemed unpolluted and with the exception of a few localized areas, is believed to be pristine. This study aimed to (1) assess the concentration of metals in the water and sharks (Squalus megalops, Mustelus mustelus) from different sites along the southeastern coast, (2) determine the effects that metals have on each other and investigate the accumulation and storage of metals in different shark tissues, (3) determine the effects of length and sex on metal concentration and the presence of metallothioneins in the liver. Metal concentrations in water from seven sites along the southeastern coast revealed concentrations below the detection limit of the extraction method, except for iron at St. Francis Bay which was below the recommended levels as supplied by DWAF. Met al concentrations in S. megalops from the seven sites revealed significantly elevated levels in individuals from Algoa and St. Francis Bay when compared to the other 5 sites. This was observed for all metals except manganese, which had a higher concentration at Cape Agulhas. After comparing the metal levels in muscle tissue (S. megalops) with data from the Department of Health it was concluded that the sharks caught at Algoa and St. Francis Bay were unsuited for human consumption. Liver and vertebral tissues from both S. megalops and M. mustelus were deemed unsuited for human consumption but further research should be conducted especially on vertebral metal concentrations. Comparing the metal concentration in different tissue types of S. megalops and M. mustelus significant difference were observed and attributed to differences in the maturity (thus age) of the two species. Significant differences in the metal concentration of males and females for both the species were observed. A higher number of differences were however observed in M. mustelus than in S. megalops, most probably due to the differences in maturity. Length and weight vs. metal concentration regressions in the males and females of both species revealed more negative than positive trends. This was found to be in accordance with other studies from around the world. Using the life stages of S. megalops, significant differences in the average concentration of metals were observed between the life stages, with embryos usually having the highest concentration. The metal concentration series determined for S. megalops were similar to that which have been reported in the literature in that iron and zinc occupied the highest concentration positions while cadmium, copper and manganese occupied the last three. The spleen usually had the highest metal concentration except for aluminium in skin and arsenic in muscle tissue. Pearson correlation revealed significant negative correlations between cadmium and the mentioned metals suggesting that cadmium replaces essential metals such as manganese, iron and copper as. Negative correlations between essential metals were observed most probably due to the competition for binding positions on ligands. Positive correlations were observed between metals in sp ecific tissue types and may be indicative of synergistic effects, e.g. aluminium may result in the accumulation of other metals such as cadmium. Positive and negative correlations between a specific metal and different tissue types have also been observed and it appears that there are movement of metals between tissue types. Positive correlation for essential metals between yolk and other tissue have been observed, although no correlations for non-essential metals were observed. This could potentially indicate a mechanism that prevents the accumulation of nonessential metals in embryos. Though no metallothioneins were isolated form the liver, the presence of cadmium in other proteins indicate that that cadmium is substituted for essential metals, and as this may result in deleterious physiological effects, further studies should be conducted. In conclusion it can be said that although some of the results were expected there are still quite a few unanswered question and further studies should be conducted.

M.Sc. (Zoology) / An investigation was made into the water chemistry, bacteriology and macroinvertebrate fauna of the Elsburg Spruit and its major tributaries within the municipal boundaries of the City of Germiston. From the results obtained it is clear that the main stream and most of its tributaries are seriously affected by a combination of pollutants. Three types of pollution could largely be distinguished namely fecal bacterial contamination of parts of the stream system which may be related to the possible discharge in the stream of domestic sewage. This in turn may be a major source of organic enrichment of the water of the stream at some places. Acid pollution associated with high mineral loads and heavy metal concentrations which in the latter case could be traced to mining regions and industrial areas in the catchment area of the system. Despite the serious disturbance of stream conditions in the upper region of the Elsburg Spruit some recovery does in fact take place in the lower lying regions of the Elsburg Spruit where the stream flows for several kilometers through a natural vlei area. Certain recommendations are made concerning the location and possible elimination of the major sources of pollution.

M.Sc. (Zoology) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

M.Sc. (Zoology) / An investigation was made into the presence and uptake of seven selected metals by the organs and tissues of the various developmental stages of the African clawed frog Xenopus laevis from industrial, mine and sewerage polluted aquatic environments on the Witwatersrand. These results were compared with conditions in two relatively unpolluted localities where the clawed frog also occurs. Attention was given to the physical and chemical conditions including the concentration of the metals at various localities. Gut content analyses of the frog stages of the plataona was made to identify the particular food items ingested by the animal but also to correlate this with the incidence of the macro invertebrate organisms present. Metal concentrations were determined for both the gut contents as well as the macro invertebrates as a group at two selected localities. The presence and concentration of various metals were determined in specific organs and tissues of the frog and compared with each other. According to the data the spleen, gallbladder, middle & Hind gut as well as the testes were identified as the target organs containing the highest concentrations of the various metals. Shortcomings in the work is pointed out and recommendations made on possible further research.

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Johannesburg, December 2012 / The study explores the thesis that discursive power played a major role in the pollution and subsequent destruction of Steel Valley to explain why, despite strenuous efforts by local citizens, the right to live in a healthy environment, guaranteed in the new South African constitution, was not upheld. It analyses the struggle in Steel Valley around the definition of pollution, and decision making about its consequences, in terms of discursive resources and their deployment in discursive arenas, focusing on discursive strategies of the polluted, the polluter and the regulator. This exploration is set within the politics of hegemony in a new South Africa after 1994, as well as the 120 year old Minerals Energy Complex at the centre of the South African political economy. It explains the legitimation of pollution in Steel Valley within the global discourses of environmental management, ecological modernisation and sustainable development prominent since the 1990s. Discursive power played a major role in the Steel Valley case. Discursive power led to the material outcomes in Steel Valley: the removal of the community, the physical destruction of their buildings and the transformation of the area into a “conservation” buffer zone, along with decisions not to pay residents compensation and not to establish a medical trust. Discursive power was used by the polluter to escape liability, by maintaining scientific and legal uncertainty about the nature, extent and consequences of the pollution. Discursive power enabled the polluter to frame the problem as one of ecological modernisation from which social justice concerns, like compensation, could be excluded. ISCOR’s discursive power also overwhelmed the regulator, as the regulator remained too cautious to use to the full the instruments available to it in law, and allowed numerous exemptions. The state and the polluter both pushed issues of Environmental Justice – compensation and rehabilitation – outside the dominant frame of decision making. The study shows how a superiority of discursive resources on the side of the polluter, derived from a financial and political superiority, translated into decisive defeats for the 4 Steel Valley community. This superiority derived from a constellation of discursive conditions in scientific, legal and administrative arenas. To describe these conditions, the study constructs a description of a pollution dispositive at work in Steel Valley, which legitimises past and future pollution. It explains the choices of the new government as pollution regulator, by understanding the tax-dependent state as responsive to both legitimacy and accumulation pressures within a hegemonic growth discourse. A grounded theory approach is followed to study discursive power, synthesizing elements of the social and narrative construction of reality, Critical Discourse Analysis, dispositive analysis and the Environmental Justice approach. It develops a variant of Critical Discourse Analysis that can work across a big case study, by treating discursive power plays as part of a pollution dispositive, which is an assembly of heterogeneous elements (practices and knowledges) that can be understood together as a strategic response to an emerging situation. The pollution dispositive was composed of pre-existing resources available in its environment: local discourses producing disposable others, through racism or a view of dispensable fenceline communities; the legitimations and limitations of the politics of hegemony, and the discourses of growth, limited corporate liability, as well as of environmental management, sustainable development and ecological modernisation. The study explores the implications of this analysis for Environmental Justice tactics in the areas of environmental management, citizen science, the politics of ecological modernisation, and the politics of hegemony in the new South Africa. It shows that the conditions of fenceline communities and the nature of discursive struggles around them create a tactical terrain which can be used to advance the cause of Environmental Justice. In the tradition of critical theory, it contributes to the understanding of anti-pollution struggles within the Environmental Justice movement, engaging with a triad of concepts that explain the imposition of environmental injustice: externalisation of the costs of pollution, exclusion from decision making and enclosure of resources. This approach can be applied to the environmental struggles of other communities on the fencelines of the Minerals Energy Complex in South Africa.

D.Phil. (Zoology) / South Africa is a major gold-producing country with the 43 larger mines processing approximately 120 x 106 ton of milled and processed ore and about 30 x I06 ton of mined waste rock. Pollution of both surface and ground water, which can be attributed to the influences of gold-mining, are well known. Acid mine drainage, characterized by a low pH and high concentrations of dissolved metals, and seepage, from active and disused mine-tailings, are two of the main environmental problems associated with gold mining operations in South Africa. A growing concern for the environment and a stricter approach to water pollution by government agencies have made it necessary to investigate the type of effects which the gold mining industry is responsible for, and to develop action to reduce these impacts. The present study focused on procedures to access the effect of gold-mining effluent on the natural surface environment. The study is divided into three separate identities. The mine represented as Ccse study Mine One is considered to be a major contributor of salt loads to the natural stream on the property of the mine. This stream confluences with the Klip River outside the mined area. This mine has only one discharge point of underground mine service water, and is considered to be the main point source of pollution for the mine. As the mine makes use of an open water circuit, the quality and quantity of effluent have a direct effect on the downstream users. It appears that one of the main water quality problems of this open water circuit is the creation of surface water with a very low pH. Part of the problem is the geology of the area which consists of shales, which has a natural low buffering capacity. Because of the low pH the wetlands are not very effective. Metal concentration changes are possibly the direct result of the low pH of the both the water column and sediment. Improving the pH of the surface water can leads to reduced metal concentrations in the water, with possible increased concentrations in the sediment and wetland vegetation. Case Study Mine Two was conducted at a gold mine in the Far West Rand Mine region. The mine can be classified as having a closed water circuit, in that only excess water is discharged. The volume of water discharged is dependent on a number of factors, such as rainfall, wash-down service water and changing demands in sewage treatment systems. The advantage in this type of circuit is that water which has accidentally been spilled can be retained in one of the boundary dams, without the possibility of endangering the downstream users. From the assessment it appears that although the mining activities have influenced the water within the mining area this impact is only confirmed to certain areas. Biotic environmental conditions at certain sites resemble the conditions of the two control sites while other, notably those in contact with processing plants (e.g. metallurgical plant), are far more deteriorated. pH does not seem to be a problem at this specific mine. The main reasons are that the underlying geology of the mine is dolomitic in nature, while the sulphate concentration in the ore appears to be lower than those' found at the Witwatersrand mines. Case study Mine Three is situated in the Klerksdorp gold-mining region. The mine has a complex water circuit as a percentage of the service water is being reused or/and discharged via effluent streams into the Vaal River. Metal concentrations in the sediment core samples indicate a large variability between seasons, sites and depth. Sites in close proximity of slimes dams have high iron and manganese concentrations, whilst those in contact with effluent water from metallurgical plants have relatively high nickel, copper and in concentrations. This can be related to the type of processing material used in the gold-mining process.

Thesis (MSc)--Stellenbosch University, 2001. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Runoff is generally regarded as one of the most important routes of nonpoint source pesticide pollution in agricultural surface waters. Of major concern is the fact that low, sub-lethal levels of pesticide exposure are responsible for negative ecotoxicological effects, stressing the need for methods capable of identifying problem areas where populations could be at risk. Predicted average losses of three pesticides in tributaries of nine sub-catchments of the Lourens River were calculated through use of a GIS-based runoff model. There was a significant (p < 0.005) positive correlation between the predicted average loss and mean measured concentrations of the insecticides both in water and suspended sediments (R2 between 0.75 and 0.9), indicating that the model could serve as a powerful tool for the risk assessment and management of surface waters in South African orchard areas. Based on field relevant exposure scenanos, the potential effects of azinphos-methyl on macroinvertebrate communities were evaluated in a combined microcosm and field approach. Microcosms were contaminated for 1 h with AZP (control, 0.2; 1,5and 20 ug/L; three replicates each) and acute effects on survival were evaluated 6 days after exposure. The sensitivity or tolerance of 12 core taxa was determined based on their response to the exposure scenarios and compared to field tolerance/sensitivity as was established by a field investigation at a control and contaminated site of the Lourens River. The sensitivity/tolerance of ten of the 12 taxa corresponded to that which was found in the field. Thus microcosm studies employing a field relevant design can be successfully linked to field studies and indicate that transient pesticide contamination affects the aquatic communities of the Lourens River. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING Afloop word oor die algemeen beskou as een van die belangrikste roetes van niepuntbron pestisiedbesoedeling in landbou oppervlakwaters. Die feit dat lae, sub-letale vlakke van pestisiedblootstelling negatiewe ektoksikologiese gevolge kan hê, is van groot belang. Dit beklemtoon die behoefte aan metodes om probleemgebiede te kan identifiseer waar bevolkings aan risiko onderhewig is. 'n GIS-gebaseerde afloopmodel is gebruik om die gemidddelde verlies van drie pestisiede in die sytakke van nege sub-opvangsgebiede van die Lourensrivier te voorspel. Daar was 'n beduidende (p < 0.005) positiewe korrelasie tussen die voorspelde gemiddelde verlies en gemete konsentrasies van insektisiede in beide die water en sediment (R2 between 0.75 and 0.9) fases, wat aandui dat die model as 'n kragtige hulpmiddel vir risikobestuur van oppervlakwaters in Suid Afrikaanse boord-gebiede kan dien. Die potensiële gevolge van azinfos-rnetiel (AZP) op makroinvertebraat gemeenskappe is deur middel van 'n gekombineerde mikrokosmos (wat op veldrelevante blootstellings gebaseer is) en veldbenadering bepaal. Mikrokosmosse is vir 1 h met AZP gekontamineer (kontrole; 1; 0.2; 1; 5 en 20 ~g1L; drie replikate elk), en die akute gevolge op oorlewing is ge-evalueer na ses dae van blootstelling. Die sensitiwiteit of toleransie van 12 sleutel taksa is deur middel van hulle respons op die blootstellingsreeks bepaal, en met hulle veldtoleransie/sensitiwiteit vergelyk wat in 'n veldstudie by 'n kontrole- en gekontamineerde gebied in die Lourensrivier bepaal is. Die sensitiwiteit/toleransie van 10 van die 12 taksa in die mikrokosmos eksperimente het ooreengestem met die wat in die veld gevind is. Mikrokosmosstudies wat op 'n veldrelevante ontwerp gebaseer is, kan dus suksesvol aan veldstudies gekoppel word, en dui aan dat oorgedraagde pestisiedkontaminasie die akwatiese gemeenskap van die Lourensrivier beinvloed.

No abstract available. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2002.