Toxic cyanobacteria, cyanotoxin and drinking water production in Ghana

Safe drinking water is one of the most critical factors to guarantee long-term population health. In Ghana the increasing pollution of surface water bodies and reservoirs used for the production of drinking water is creating a shift in the phytoplankton composition to mainly cyanobacteria. The World Health Organization (WHO) has showed great concern about the important health implications of cyanobacteria and toxins in potable water production sources across the globe. Africa as a whole and Ghana in particular, where many communities depend on untreated raw water from rivers, streams and ponds as sources of drinking water, gives even greater cause for concern. This book reports on a pioneering work of significance to Ghana and the West African sub-Region. It looks at the species of toxic cyanobacteria and microcystins they produce in some potable water producing facilities in Ghana. It reports of 15 new cyanobacteria species found in Ghana, including the cyanobacterium Cyanogranis ferruginea, reported for the first time in Africa and also records the first case of the hepatotoxins microcystin-LR, YR, RR and LF in Ghana.