Traditional environmental health hazards such as lack of access to potable water, indoor air pollution from biomass burning and lack of sanitation and hygiene have long plagued African nations. However, with growth in urbanization and industrialization, these countries are now facing more modern environmental health hazards such as heavy metals like lead and mercury, pesticides and air toxics. Sources of these hazards include consumer goods, household paint, leaded gasoline (which is still sold in North Africa), pesticides, industrial pollution, domestic and hazardous waste, polluted water and artisanal gold mining and processing. With increased urbanization and industrialization of many African cities, air pollution in particular has become an issue of public health concern.
Current management of modern environmental health hazards in Africa is inadequate, and it is necessary to put in place various safeguards for environmental health, such as stable institutions, adequate infrastructure, monitoring capacity and regulatory frameworks. Human exposure to such hazards has the potential to significantly affect the levels of illness and disease in Africa. For those populations with compounding factors that impair resilience to toxicologic challenges, such as malnutrition, the disease burden may be higher.
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