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Knowledge and implications of atrazine in waters from rural areas in Nigeria remain diminutive. Meanwhile, recent findings have shown presence of atrazine residue in water bodies. Atrazine level in six communities (Mamu, Oru, Ilaporu, Awa, Ijebu Igbo, and Ago-Iwoye) of Ijebu North local government, Ogun State, Nigeria using 69 hand-dug wells (HDWs), 40 boreholes (BHs) and four streams are monitored. Value of atrazine recorded was employed to appraise the implication on some hematological and biochemical parameters in relation to human health through dermal and ingestion contact using male albino rats. Highest atrazine of 0.08 mg/L was found in HDW of Ago-Iwoye out of 41 hand dug wells assessed, alongside 22 BH and four streams tested positive to atrazine, while the Oru documented lowest concentration with 0.01 mg/L. Ingestion and dermal hazard index (HI) were lower in adults than children and below acceptable limits in each community. Atrazine concentration at 0.01, 0.03, 0.04, and 0.08 mg/L in waters may not induce significant alteration in the hematological and some biochemical parameters of the exposed animal, while concentration at 0.04 and 0.08 mg/L might alter the blood glucose, albumin, and bilirubin. This is the first study to report atrazine in rural community waters in relation to human health in Nigeria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Malaria is one of the highest causes of mortality in the populations of African, South Asia, and Latin America as it contributes a large part of the continued impoverishment of these populations. The efficacy of both the ethanolic and aqueous extracts of the fruits of Calotropis gigantea, R. Br. (Ascelepiadaceae), Aframomum melegueta K. Schum (Zingiberaceae), and seeds of Blighia sapida (Sapindaceae) were tested on the third instar larvae of Anopheles gambiae (L). 200 g of the blended form of each plant material was suspended in 500 mls of water and filtered after 1 day. The filtrates were then dried to get the stock from which serial concentrations (20, 10, 1, 0.1 mg/ml) were reconstituted. The result after a 24 hrs bioassay time shows that the A. meleguta (59.4 %) ethanolic extract with LC50 values of 0.3 mg/ml acted most followed by its aqueous form (38.89 %) with LC50 2.57 mg/ml, ethanolic extract of C. gigantea (27.78 %) with LC50 5.57 mg/ml, the ethanolic form of B. sapida (27.5 %) 6.25 mg/ml while the aqueous forms of C. gigantea and B. sapida were 6.37 at 25 % and 6.5mg/ml at 26.6% respectively. For all the plants used, A. melegueta was the most potent plant and there was significant difference (p<0.05) between the ethanolic extract and the aqueous form. The use of insecticides of plant origins may serve as a suitable alternative to chemical insecticides in the future with their characteristic relative safety, degradability, and abundance in many areas of the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]