Contamination, microbial health hazards

It is essential that emulsions are formulated to resist microbial attack, as this not only can affect the physicochemical properties of the formulation, causing color, odor, or pH changes and even phase separation, but may also constitute a health hazard. The potential sources of contamination can be from raw materials (especially if these are natural products), water. 

In most cases water will require some treatment to assure that it meets food hygiene requirements and does not constitute a public health hazard. Surface water from rain runoff into rivers or impoundments is likely to contain atmospheric solutes, minerals from the ground, organic matter from vegetation, microbial contamination from birds and wild and domestic animals, and human waste. Water from underground aquifers will have much of the surface contamination filtered out, but it is likely to be high in dissolved mineral content. 

Al-WaUi, N., Salotn, K., Al-Ghamdi, A., Ansari, M.J., 2012. Antibiotic, pesticide, and microbial contaminants of honey human health hazards. Sci. World J. 930. 

Microbial hazards make the largest contribution to waterborne disease in developed and developing countries, Nevertheless, chemicals in water supplies can cause serious health problems - whether the chemicals are naturally occurring or derive from sources of pollution. At a global scale, fluoride and arsenic are the most significant chemicals, each affecting perhaps millions of people, However, many other chemicals can be important contaminants of drinking-water under specific local conditions. 

To further validate the treatment technology, the contaminated groundwater was subjected to tests for toxicity and teratogenicity before and after treatment (sampled before carbon treatment). As determined by Microtox , embryonic Menidia beryllina, Mysydopsis bahia, and Ceriodaphnia dubia bioassays, these indicators of potential threat to human health and the environment were significantly reduced. This data shows that the treatment system was effective in removing the hazardous properties of the waste material, while simultaneously demonstrating that no metabolic byproducts or toxic intermediates were created by the microbial biotransformation of the waste constituents. 

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