UNEP-GEF WIO-LaB Project
Addressing Land Based Activities in the Western Indian Ocean




INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY
MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL LABORATORY




REPORT TO UNEP AND WIO-LaB

An Assessment of the National
Capabilities for Marine Pollution
Monitoring in the Western Indian
Ocean Region and Recommendations
for Regional Capacity Building and
Training Needs



Stephen de Mora
Head, Marine Environmental Studies Laboratory


Monaco, February 2006


4, Quai Antoine 1er
MC 98000
Monaco
Tel.: (377) 97.97.72.72 Fax: (377) 97.97.72.76
Email: S.de_Mora@iaea.org

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Table of Contents

1
SCOPE............................................................................................................................... 1
2
BACKGROUND............................................................................................................... 1
3
NATIONAL ASSESSMENTS......................................................................................... 1
3.1 South Africa .................................................................................................................. 2
3.2 Mauritius....................................................................................................................... 4
3.3 Madagascar................................................................................................................... 7
3.4 Mozambique ................................................................................................................. 9
3.5 Tanzania...................................................................................................................... 11
3.6 Comoros ...................................................................................................................... 14
3.7 Kenya........................................................................................................................... 16
4
CONCLUSIONS............................................................................................................. 18
5
RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................................................... 20
6
ROLE OF IAEA-MESL ................................................................................................ 21


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1
SCOPE

This report is based on two missions to the Western Indian Ocean region: i) South Africa,
Mauritius, and Madagascar, July 24-August 7, 2005; ii) Mozambique, Tanzania, Comoros and
Kenya, August 14-26, 2005. The Seychelles was not visited, but laboratory personnel
provided information regarding capacity building requirements. The purpose of travel was to
undertake a mission on behalf of UNEP and the GEF Project entitled Addressing Land-based
Activities in the Western Indian Ocean (WIO-LaB) in order to assess national marine pollution
monitoring and assessment capabilities, and thereby make recommendations for capacity
building and training needs in the region. The report was finalised based on comments
received at the second meeting of the WIO-LaB Project Regional Working Group on Water
and Sediment Quality Assessment and Monitoring was held in Quatre Bornes, Mauritius,
February 8-10, 2006.


2
BACKGROUND

The project entitled Addressing Land-based Activities in the Western Indian Ocean (WIO-
LaB) is a UNEP-GEF project involving eight countries: Comoros, Kenya, Madagascar,
Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, South Africa, and Tanzania. WIO-LaB is a four-year
project that has a primary concentration on some of the major environmental problems and
issues of the region associated with the degradation of the marine and coastal environment
due to land-based activities. Some aspects of the implementation rely on establishing a
regional monitoring programme.

The Marine Environmental Studies Laboratory of the International Atomic Energy Agency
can provide technical support to underpin the regional monitoring programme. Such
assistance includes conducting regional training courses for the analyses of metals and
organic contaminants in marine sediments and biota, running regional inter-laboratory studies
to judge laboratory performance, and provide expert advice on marine analytical chemistry,
including QA/QC procedures. Also, MESL can assist the WIO-LaB Project in establishing a
Regional Activity Centre for marine pollution monitoring. Other services can be offered once
a regional monitoring programme is initiated.


3
NATIONAL ASSESSMENTS

Twenty-one laboratories and government agencies in seven countries were visited during two
missions to the Western Indian Ocean region. The Seychelles was not visited. Discussions
centred on the mandate of the laboratory to carry out marine pollution monitoring and the
monitoring programme that they undertake, including parameters measured. The laboratories
were toured to examine the general infrastructure and instruments, and to evaluate the QA/QC
procedures in place. The following assessments are on a national basis in chronological order
of country and laboratory / government authority visited.


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3.1 South Africa

Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)

The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) facility is located in Durban. Mr
Ashley Naidoo (Business Area Manager for Coastal Processes) and Mr Roland David
(Laboratory Manager) provided background information about CSIR in general and their
marine pollution-monitoring programme, and gave a tour of the laboratory facilities.

South Africa has no national monitoring programme. The mandate for this activity rests
officially with the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT) through the
Marine and Coastal Monitoring (MCM) branch. Because MCM has no operational capacity
for chemical analyses, they rely on CSIR Durban to support marine pollution monitoring.
CSIR also works directly with port and local authorities along the east coast of South Africa.
The CSIR marine monitoring programme encompasses water, sediments and biota. Analytes
in all media include heavy metals, chlorinated pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs),
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH).
Additional measurements in water are the standard oceanographic parameters and nutrients.
The laboratory also conducts bioassays (sea urchin toxicity test) and standard microbial
assays for assessing water quality. CSIR has no vessel itself, but rather uses port authority
vessels or charters a ship for offshore sample collection.

The CSIR facility has a suite of laboratories. The space is well-organised for sample handling
and analyses, with designated areas for sample reception and storage, wet chemistry, and
instrumental analysis. Summarising, there are two rooms for washing glassware, a storeroom
with various fridges for sample storage, a room with various ovens and a muffle furnace, and
a balance room. Apart from a large general laboratory, there are several dedicated
laboratories: wet chemistry, determination of nutrients, sample preparation for analysis of
sediments and biota (includes a microwave digestion system), and microbiology. Also, there
are separate instrument rooms for the inductively coupled plasma - optical emission
spectrometer (ICP-OES), atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS) used only for mercury,
ion chromatograph, and gas chromatograph - mass spectrometer (GC-MS). Finally, there are
various offices and a computer room with good Internet access. It should be noted that there is
scope to expand the laboratory space. The glassware cleaning facilities will be centralised, the
general laboratory is under-utilised and offices can be moved from the laboratory wing to the
main building.

With respect to quality management considerations, competent authorities regularly calibrate
balances and other equipment. Samples are tracked through chain of custody forms and using
an in-house unique code number. Various certified reference materials are on hand, but none
are available for the analysis of organic contaminants. Quality Control (QC) charts are kept to
monitor analytical performance of the laboratory. CSIR participates regularly in external
laboratory performance tests run by the South African Bureau of Standards. They used to take
part in some QUASIMEME studies, and still periodically partake in Ultracheck tests for water
quality analyses. They have not been involved in IAEA laboratory performance studies, but
plan to participate in future studies. The laboratory is accredited by the South African Bureau
of Standards for many analyses, including several metals in estuarine waters and sediment.

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CSIR has a good system of documentation, which includes sample logs, instrument logs,
calibration information, staff training logs, and standard operation procedures (SOPs). The
staff training logs are of note because there is an in-house training scheme that teaches
unqualified people to become analytical technicians. Finally, it was noted that for sub-
contracting out work, they use only other accredited laboratories.

The WIO-LaB Project hopes to establish the CSIR Durban laboratory as the Regional
Activity Centre (RAC) for Marine Pollution Monitoring. The facility has many strengths to
support this proposal: ready accessibility from throughout the region, good communications
support (fax, email, high speed internet access); relatively large laboratory space with
possibilities for expansion; good facilities for hosting meetings and training courses; in-house
training scheme and experience hosting interns from other countries; well-organised
laboratory environment with good instrumentation; trained staff with experience in a wide
range of sampling and measurement procedures; many good aspects of quality management
and document keeping; and accreditation by the South African Bureau of Standards for many
analyses. Moreover, CSIR is located on the campus of the University of Kwazulu-Natal and
also has ready access to the nearby Durban Institute of Technology. However, there are also
some deficiencies that need to the rectified: currently insufficient attention to the use of
reference materials and certified reference materials, especially for analysis of organic
contaminants; sporadic participation in external laboratory performance studies; some
instruments are possibly too sophisticated for regional training (i.e. ICP-OES rather than
AAS, and GC-MS rather than GC-FID/ECD); no equipment for the preparation of reference
materials (freeze-dryer; grinder; homogeniser). Another point for consideration is that there
should be a clearly defined devolution of the various tasks, such as running training courses,
organising laboratory performance studies and subsequent statistical interpretation of data, to
ensure that they do not all become the responsibility of the laboratory manager. Such
consideration is a management issue reflecting the scale and diversity of the activities, rather
than the qualities and abilities of any given laboratory manager.

Comments

The CSIR Laboratory in Durban could serve as a Regional Activity Centre for marine
pollution monitoring for the WIO-LaB Project, but subject to the following recommendations:
· CSIR must improve analytical performance in the determination of organic contaminants
in marine matrices; specifically they should acquire appropriate reference materials and
participate in relevant laboratory performance studies.
· CSIR should have (or have ready local access) to appropriate instrumentation for hosting
training courses, notably one or more better graphite furnace atomic absorption
spectrophotometers and gas chromatograph(s) with flame ionisation detector (GC-FID)
and electron capture detector (GC-ECD). Although one GC with both detectors would
suffice, a better long-term strategy would be to have two GCs with different detectors.
· CSIR needs to be equipped with some equipment essential for the preparation of regional
reference materials, namely freeze-dryer, grinder, sieves, and homogeniser.
· Appropriate staff to teach the training courses needs to be designated, as does the person
that will become responsible for organising the laboratory performance studies, which
includes statistical interpretation of the data.

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· CSIR staff needs to be trained to undertake the anticipated tasks, many of which are
beyond their present experience, but not competence.

3.2 Mauritius

In Mauritius, local hosts from the Ministry of the Environment were Ms Nashreem Soogun
(WIO-LaB National Focal Point for Mauritius) and Ms Daisy Ramasamy. They provided
some background information regarding the marine environment. As regards land-based
sources of pollution to the marine environment, they indicated that discharges to the coastal
lagoon are prohibited and that emissions to the ocean are permitted only via outfalls deeper
than 30 m and at least 1 km offshore. Mauritius has an inter-ministerial committee, chaired by
the Ministry for the Environment, dealing with all pollution issues.

3.2.1 Central Water Authority (CWA)

The Central Water Authority Laboratory is located in St Paul. Mr Anand Kumar Gopaul
(Scientific Officer) and Mr S.K. Pem (Technical Officer) explained that the CWA operates
under the auspices of the Ministry of Public Utilities and has the mandate to monitor surface
waters, ground waters, industrial effluent discharges into surface waters and drinking water.
Although they have many sampling locations, the sites of greatest relevance to WIO-LaB are
sites situated at the mouths of rivers entering the sea. They measure standard water quality
parameters, including nutrients, to ensure that waters comply with national standards as
stipulated by the Ministry of the Environment. They consider that metals and pesticides are
not a problem in surface waters, the later based on a previous study of the main pesticides
used for growing sugar cane.

The CWA facility has a suite of laboratories. The space is limited, but relatively well-
organised. There is an office that doubles as a storeroom for documents, a storage room for
samples (but the fridge was not functioning), a wet laboratory, and a sample preparation
laboratory equipped with a flame photometer. Another general purpose laboratory contained
instruments for the determination of total organic carbon (TOC) and total organic halides
(TOH), together with a centrifuge and muffle furnace. The nutrient laboratory had an
apparatus for measuring total Kjeldhal nitrogen (TKN) and also two gas chromatographs
(GCs), one with a nitrogen-phosphorus detector (GC-NPD) and the other with an electron
capture detector (GC-ECD). However, the GCs were not operational. Finally, there was a
separate laboratory housing an old and non-functional atomic absorption spectrophotometer
(AAS).

Regarding quality management, the CWA laboratory has few QA/QC procedures in place.
They do produce in-house reference materials for QC checks and maintain QC charts.
However, they do not participate in external laboratory performance studies. They are in the
process of preparing a quality manual and will seek accreditation by Mauritius Accreditation
Services (MAURITAS), which operates under the auspices of the Ministry of Industry.


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3.2.2 Waste Water Laboratory (WWL)

Mr Jacques Alexis Radhay (Works Manager for the Pollution Control Unit), Mr Shameem
Jauffur (Scientific Officer), Mr Shailand K. Guunoo (Scientific Officer), and Ms Sunita
Balgobin (Senior Laboratory Technician) provided information about the Waste Water
Laboratory (WWL) in Réduit. The WWL also operates under the Ministry of Public Utilities
and has the mandate for compliance monitoring of industrial emissions, mostly into the sewer
system, but occasionally into surface waters and so overlaps with the mandate of the CWA.
Of relevance to WIO-LaB is that they monitor the quality of water destined for discharge via
the ocean outfalls, of which there are currently four in Mauritius. They routinely measure
standard water quality parameters using the American Public Health Association (APHA)
Standard Methods. They do not yet analyse metals, having just received an atomic absorption
spectrophotometer (AAS). They undertake routine microbiological analyses.

The laboratory has very limited space. The balances are kept in an office together with
various computers. There is a separate room housing a newly acquired gas chromatograph ­
mass spectrometer. However, everything else is essentially done in one large chemistry
laboratory, which is used for all sample preparations and contains several fume cupboards and
instruments. This laboratory is well-equipped and instruments include: a recently acquired
AAS with both flame and graphite furnace capabilities, an oil and grease analyzer, a flame
photometer, a microwave digestion system, a total Kjeldhal nitrogen analyzer, an UV/visible
spectrophotometer, various small meters for pH, conductivity, ion selective electrode, etc, a
flow injection autoanalyzer for nutrients and phenols, and a tintometer, together with various
data loggers and field autosamplers. Finally, there is a small suite of rooms hosting the
microbiological studies.

Regarding quality management, the WWL has few QA/QC procedures in place. They produce
in-house reference materials for QC checks and maintain QC charts. They have no Certified
Reference Materials and do not participate in external laboratory performance studies. They
have good supporting documentation for sample collection and maintain a sample register.
They do have clear reporting forms and in-house training of analysts.

3.2.3 National Environment Laboratory (NEL)

The National Environment Laboratory (NEL) is located in the same building as the WWL in
Réduit. NEL is part of the Ministry of the Environment and has a mandate to investigate all
environmental media (air, water, sludge), including the marine environment. Their role is
more akin to troubleshooting rather than monitoring. They can measure a wide range of
parameters. For water quality, NEL determines standard water quality parameters, including
nutrients. Mr D. Dindyal gave a tour of the laboratory, which is divided into five sections:
microbiology, wet chemistry, trace metal and air quality, liquid chromatography, and gas
chromatography.

The microbiology laboratory is relatively spacious with well-organised workspace, albeit
under renovation in order to comply with ISO standards. There are separate rooms for sample
preparation, the preparation of media, a laboratory for laminar flow cabinets, and an incubator

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room. They maintain reference strains of key microbes and run monthly swab tests to check
for in-house contamination. They are preparing standard operating procedures.

The wet chemistry laboratory is very spacious and houses an UV/visible spectrophotometer.
There is another laboratory dedicated to sample preparation for organic and metal analyses,
with also contains a microwave digestion system and a total Kjeldhal nitrogen analyser. The
liquid chromatography laboratory has a high performance liquid chromatograph (HPLC), an
ion chromatograph dedicated to anion determinations in fresh waters, and a total organic
carbon (TOC) analyser, together with Soxhlet extraction glassware. They measure benzene
and a range of herbicides (diuron, velpar, linuron, and atrazine), and want to become ISO
17025 accredited. There is a gas chromatography laboratory that houses two gas
chromatographs; one has a nitrogen-phosphorus detector (NPD) and a flame ionisation
detector (FID), and the other one has an electron capture detector (ECD). However, the
instruments do not function and the laboratory has no staff. Finally, the metal section has a
flame photometer, and two atomic absorption spectrophotometers, one of which is equipped
with a graphite furnace.

In terms of overall management, NEL is ISO 9001 2000 accredited. As regards chemical
analyses, they are seeking accreditation by MAURITAS. They use the American Public
Health Association (APHA) Standard Methods and have certified reference materials on
hand. For internal QC, they use spiked solutions rather than a laboratory reference material.
They do not currently participate in external laboratory performance studies.

3.2.4 Fisheries Research Centre (FRC)

After briefly meeting Mr Atmanun Venkatasami, the Director of the Albion Fisheries
Research Centre, a tour of the facility was given by Mr Hang Bhudoge (Scientific Officer),
Mrs Olga Venkatasami (Scientific Officer), and Mrs Veemala Chelumbrun (Technical
Officer). The FRC runs a water quality monitoring programme, sampling seawater at the
mouths of the main estuaries with a frequency of two to three months. They measure standard
water quality parameters, including nitrate and phosphate. Bathing water quality is measured
on a monthly basis.

The laboratory is rather limited. They have an atomic absorption spectrophotometer and a
mercury analyser, but neither instrument is functional. They have an HPLC that is used for
pesticide analyses. The microbiology laboratory is suitably equipped for the measurements
made. Finally, it is noted that FRC has small boats suitable for sampling coastal sites.

In terms of quality management, they are considering getting accreditation by MAURITAS,
but need an external expert to assist because there is no in-house expertise in chemistry. They
have standard operating procedures and keep quality control charts, but do not participate in
external laboratory performance tests.

Comments

Overall there is impressive capacity in Mauritius to undertake monitoring of many marine
pollutants. However, there is currently no rigorous marine monitoring programme and all the

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laboratories focus on water analyses, with virtually no attention paid to sediments and biota.
The laboratories visited have overlapping capacities, and indeed, there seems to be some
redundancy in their current monitoring programmes. The focus is on standard water quality
parameters, including nutrients and microbial indicators. Some metal determinations are
made, but there is no comprehensive assessment of organic contaminants. Generally, the
laboratories need assistance to establish better QA/QC practices. Training in metal and
organic analyses would be beneficial, especially for the Waste Water Laboratory, which has
recently acquired sophisticated instrumentation, but has no relevant experience in their
application. A coastal contaminant survey of metals and pesticides in sediments would
provide valuable baseline information that seems to be lacking at this time. Finally, Mauritius
would benefit from establishing a national monitoring programme to make use of the various
experts and instrumentation that already exists in a more coordinated way.

3.3 Madagascar

3.3.1 Institut Halieutique et des Sciences Marines (IHSM)

In Toliara, the Institut Halieutique et des Sciences Marines (IHSM) is part of the University of
Toliara. They operate under the auspices of the Ministry of National Education and Scientific
Research, rather than the Ministry of the Environment. Mr Man Wai Rabenevanana
(Director), Ms Jacqueline Razanoelisoa, (Fisheries Engineer) Mr Jean Yves Monera
(Chemist), and Mr Christian Guy Ealijona (Vice President of the University) provided
detailed information about the facility. IHSM is a teaching and research facility with many
overseas collaborators. They work under contract with the Ministry of the Environment for
some projects. IHSM has small boats suitable for sampling coastal locations.

IHSM has a project sponsored by the Norwegian Development Agency to monitor pollution
in two bays in southern Madagascar, namely the Bay of Toliara in the southwest and the Bay
of Fort-Dauphin in the southeast. The monitoring comprises microbiological and chemical
components, but all chemical analyses are done at the Centre National de Recherches sur
l'Environnement (CSRE) in Antananarivo. For the microbial assessments, the sampling
frequency is twice per month. They measure a range of enteric bacteria and faecal coliforms,
phytoplankton with a focus on toxic dinoflagellates, benthos and macroalgae (seaweeds).
They are trying to examine the impact of toxic algae on zooplankton and pubic health. The
complementary chemical study centres on the analysis of heavy metals in seawater. In the Bay
of Toliara, they analyse industrial discharges four times per month. In the Bay of Fort-
Dauphin, they analyse 16 samples collected from throughout the bay twice a month. No
pesticides are currently measured.

The laboratory facilities are aimed serving the needs of teaching. The spacious microbiology
laboratory has several incubators, water baths, a centrifuge and many microscopes. They
teach class sizes of about 10 students. A second laboratory houses the microscope for
counting phytoplankton. Also attached is a small chemistry laboratory, however, there is no
equipment other than a rotary evaporator. As noted above, metal analyses are conducted at the
CSRE in Antananarivo.

There was nothing to discuss as regards quality management for chemical analyses.

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3.3.2 Centre National de Recherches sur l'Environnement (CSRE)

The Centre National de Recherches sur l'Environnement (CSRE) is in Antananarivo. Dr
Pierre Ravelonandro (Director) and Mr Yves Jean Michel Mong (Chemist), together with Ms
Chantal Andrianarivo (WIO-LaB National Focal Point for Madagascar), outlined marine
environmental issues in Madagascar. As is the case for IHSM, CNRE operates under the
auspices of the Ministry of National Education and Scientific Research. Although the
Ministry for the Environment actually has the mandate to monitor the marine environment,
one of the axes of activity for CNRE upon its establishment in 1988 was meant to be
environmental monitoring. However, this activity that has never been implemented in a
meaningful way and there is presently no national marine pollution monitoring programme in
Madagascar. Moreover, there are disparate activities relating to international and regional
conventions that could be better coordinated. Thus, it would be useful to bring together the
people responsible for national implementation of the Nairobi Convention and the WIO-LaB
GEF Project with those dealing with the POPs Convention.

CNRE is relatively well-equipped, having received external support over the years from the
World Bank, UNIDO and the IAEA. The work focuses on the analyses of aqueous samples,
including surface waters, industrial effluents and marine waters. They determine a wide range
of standard water quality parameters, including nutrients. CNRE apparently has no experience
analysing pollutants in marine sediment and biota samples. Generally the workspace is well-
organised in that there are several instrument rooms, and sample preparations are handled in
separate laboratories. However, the workspace for sample preparation for metal analyses is
very cramped, and contains a muffle furnace and ovens, as well as fume cupboards. There is a
water laboratory that is divided into two sections. One for preparatory work has a water
filtration system and oven. The other, containing a laminar flow hood, is used for analytical
measurements, such as titrations. An adjacent instrument laboratory houses a centrifuge,
Fourier transform Infrared Spectrophotometer (FTIR), and UV/visible spectrophotometer.
There is a chromatography laboratory with two gas chromatographs, both having flame
ionisation and electron capture detectors. The laboratory also has three high performance
liquid chromatographs (HPLC), one with a fluorescence detector and the other two having
UV/visible detectors. The instruments are used to determine polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons (PAHs), and although the laboratory has the equipment necessary for pesticide
analyses, the staff lack experience in this field. A separate laboratory houses two atomic
absorption spectrophotometers. The older instrument is just a flame AAS, whereas the newer
AAS has flame, hydride generation and graphite furnace capabilities. Finally, there is a
laboratory for the field equipment and staging field work. CNRE has a portable ion selective
electrode system for measuring a range of metals in situ and a portable hydrocarbon analyser.
This room also houses a freezer and the deionisation system.


CNRE relies on publications of the Association Française de Normalisation (AFNOR) for
standard methodologies. The laboratory essentially operates without any QA/QC procedures
at this stage. They have no certified reference materials, do not keep quality control charts and
no longer participate in external laboratory performance studies.


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Comments

There seems to be a lack of communications between ministries having the mandate to
monitor marine pollution and the operational capacity to do so. They need to hold a national
meeting (1 or 2 days) in Antananarivo to bring together the relevant administrators and
scientists in order to clarify what marine studies should be done, what relevant research is/has
been done and how to coordinate the resources and people in order to satisfy the national
obligations stipulated in various international and regional conventions and projects.
Although CNRE in Antananarivo is well-equipped for the determination of many marine
pollutants, the staff needs assistance in a number of areas. Most importantly, CNRE must
establish QA/QC procedures for all analyses. The staff needs training in the determination of
pesticides, and for the analysis of pollutants in sediments and biota. Finally, IHSM in Toliara
wants to expand its chemical studies. One suggestion is that they start by analysing nutrients
in the Bay of Toliara. This would support the ongoing microbiological and phytoplankton
studies, and could be justified in that the measurements should be made as soon as possible
after sampling. Suitable training and some capacity building would be necessary. The
equipment requirements would be an UV/visible spectrophotometer, glassware and chemicals.

3.4 Mozambique

3.4.1 National Laboratory of Food and Water Safety (NLFWS)

The National Laboratory of Food and Water Safety (NLFWS) is part of the Ministry of
Health. Mr Carlos Domingos Sono is the Director and Ms Rhoda Nuvunga Luis serves as the
Laboratory Manager. In terms of its monitoring role, the laboratory runs a water quality
programme that focuses on drinking, surface and wastewaters. They determine standard water
quality parameters, including several microbial measurements. They analyse marine waters
infrequently. This laboratory has neither a mandate for environmental monitoring nor any
enforcement role; however, the laboratory is a national facility and analyses samples from
many clients, including the Ministry for the Environment and the Eduardo Mondlane
University.

The NLFWS, quite spacious and well-organised, has a suite of offices and laboratories. There
are rooms dedicated to sample reception, balances, and the production of distilled water,
together with a dark room for reading thin later chromatography plates. Sample preparation
areas are apart from instrument rooms. One sample preparation room contained several fume
cupboards, which would be suitable for handling digestion and extraction procedures for
marine sediments and biota. The chromatography laboratory has one high performance liquid
chromatograph and two gas chromatographs; one with flame ionisation and electron capture
detector and the other with thermal conductivity detector and electron capture detector. All
three instruments are very old, and only one GC seems to be functioning, but with unknown
stability and sensitivity. Another instrument room houses an UV/Visible Spectrophotometer
and an old, inoperative Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer. The laboratories for water
quality studies (standard physicochemical measurements and nutrients) are equipped as
required and very well-organised, with chemical reagents for specific analyses kept
conveniently together on the workbenches. Bench top instruments include a turbiditimeter and
a flame photometer.

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With respect to quality management, the laboratory relies on the American Public Health
Association (APHA) Standard Methods. They have sample log sheets, used for documenting
sampling, analyses and results. NLFWS maintains a sample registry for tracking samples and
progress of analyses. All instruments have a logbook, used to record usage and performance,
the later forming a quasi quality control sheet for some instruments. They participate in an
annual proficiency test for water quality run by the Southern African development community
Cooperation in Measurement Traceability (SADCMET). They have demonstrated good
quality, with an average z-score last year <1. This reflects the competence of the staff. There
dedication is manifest in that they welcome students from both the Eduardo Mondlane
University and high schools to undertake training in the laboratory.

3.4.2 Physics Department, Eduardo Mondlane University

Dr Antonio Huguane, a physical oceanographer at the Physics Department of Eduardo
Mondlane University runs a small research group that started in the 1990s with an emphasis
on applied oceanography aimed at fisheries management. Initially the investigations were
offshore, but coastal studies have become increasingly important. The group has developed
hydrodynamic models for Maputo Bay, mesocscale models for offshore studies, and is now
looking at storm surge effects on coastal regions. Dr Huguane has been involved in several
coastal projects, and co-supervises MSc and PhD students registered at other universities, but
working in Maputo. They are now completing a LOICZ study of biogeochemical cycling in
the Maputo Bay system, looking at several interfacial zones (open sea / Maputo Bay /
estuaries / mangroves). Nutrient analyses for water samples were sub-contracted to the
Department of Biology at the university and to the NLFWS. Other investigations include a
World Wildlife Fund (WWF) sponsored study looking at an ecosystem approach to managing
coastal shrimp fisheries, coastal zone management and development of marine protected areas
funded by the EU, marine optics / water quality research to develop a camera system for
measuring light penetration rather than a radiometer, and a tsunami early warning system
based on tidal gauge data capture and transmission via satellite to have near real time
information from remote sites. It is of note that the oceanographers use local fisherman when
they need access to vessels for working at sea. Overall, the group represents users of marine
data. They have no laboratory facilities for measurements and lack specific knowledge for
interpreting chemical pollution data. However, they have expertise in hydrodynamics and
have developed models of value for predicting pollutant transport within the coastal marine
environment.

3.4.3 Ministry of the Coordination of Environmental Affairs (MICOA)

Mr Policarpo Napica is the Director of MICOA and the National WIO-LaB Focal Point for
Mozambique. He confirmed that his ministry expected to play a coordinating role in the WIO-
LaB project, noting that they would reply upon the services of the National Laboratory for
Food and Water Safety for chemical measurements, and other ministries as required, For
example the Ministry for Water has data on suspended sediment loads in rivers. He stated that
they would convene, as required, an inter-ministerial meeting of the people involved in the
WIO-LaB project in order to optimise coordination and minimise duplication of effort.


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For my part, I voiced some of my observations. The MICOA had the mandate for
environmental monitoring, but rely on the NLFWS for this service. This activity was outside
the mandate of the Ministry of Health and the NLFWS currently lacked some instrumentation
to implement the monitoring aspects of the WIO-LaB Project. Thus, it seemed that MICOA
should bear some responsibility to securing adequate and appropriate instrumentation for
NLFWS, either through national funding or leveraging external funds form donor countries or
organisations. Finally, we agreed that Mozambique lacked expertise in the field of marine
pollution assessment, that is, interpreting chemical data. Mr Napica indicated that MICOA
could consider providing a scholarship to a student to undertake postgraduate studies in this
field at a university outside Mozambique.

Comments

Mozambique has no national monitoring programme. The mandate for environmental
monitoring rests with the Ministry of the Coordination of Environmental Affairs, but they
have no operational capacity to make measurements. Thus, they must rely on the National
Laboratory of Food and Water Safety. This laboratory is well-organised and maintained, but
needs an atomic absorption spectrophotometer and a gas chromatograph with both flame
ionisation detector and electron capture detector. MICOA should take the responsibility for
securing the necessary funds for such instrumentation to ensure that Mozambique can
participate fully in the monitoring aspects of the WIO-LaB Project. The laboratory also needs
some training to upgrade QA/QC procedures and to gain familiarity with the analyses of
metals and organic pollutants in marine sediments and biota. It is noted that there is expertise
in coastal hydrodynamics at the Eduardo Mondlane University, but a national gap is expertise
in marine pollution assessment. Given that there are some sporadic historical data of interest,
Mozambique would benefit from having a data centre, or access to a regional data archiving
faculty.

3.5 Tanzania

3.5.1 University of Dar es Salaam

At the Faculty of Aquatic Sciences and Technology (FAST) at the University of Dar es
Salaam, Professor Yanus D. Mgaya is the Dean and Professor John E. Machiwa is the Head
of Department of Aquatic Environment. As a university, the prime purposes are teaching and
research. Thus, they do not have a marine monitoring programme per se, but have been
involved in various case studies and research projects. Other departments on campus have
suitable instrumentation for the analysis of metals and organic pollutants in marine sediments.

Ms Jean K. Mujumba runs the laboratory facilities in the Geology Department. The analytical
facility for the analyses of metals comprises a suite of rooms. A range of environmental
samples, including biological materials, is analysed. The facility is relatively spacious and, for
the most part, well-organised. There is a balance room and a general laboratory area for
staging fieldwork, sample reception and glassware cleaning. There are two sample preparation
areas, complete with fume cupboards and a microwave digestion system, water production
system and a total mercury analyser. However, the later item should be moved into one of the
instrument rooms. There are two instrument rooms; one houses an inductively coupled plasma

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optical emission spectrophotometer (ICP-OES) with autosampler and the other contains an
atomic absorption spectrophotometer. Despite having a graphite furnace and autosampler, this
old instrument only functions in the flame mode. Although the laboratory does have some
reference materials, overall there is little laboratory management in effect. They do not
participate in external laboratory performance studies and do not maintain quality control
charts. Overall, record keeping is very limited; this applies to sample registry and instrument
logs.

Professor Michael A. Kishimba and Mr. Geoffrey S. Malisa are members of the Chemistry
Department. Of relevance to the WIO-LaB project, the department hosts two key laboratories
for the analysis of organic contaminants. One laboratory is used for sample preparation, and
has fume cupboards, centrifuge, ultrasonic water bath and rotary evaporator, together with the
necessary glassware. They do not routinely use Soxhlet extraction because some pesticides
that are measured suffer thermal degradation. The separate instrument room contains several
apparatus, of note being two gas chromatographs (electron capture detector / flame ionisation
detector; electron capture detector / nitrogen - phosphorus detector). One gas chromatograph
was under repair, but both are functional. They note that they have good service from Varian,
but tend to get spare parts via a colleague in Sweden rather than from South Africa. In terms
of laboratory management and QA/QC procedures, the laboratory has many good practices in
effect. Access to instruments is limited, and generally restricted to staff and postgraduate
students under supervision. The laboratory is part of the African Network for Chemical
Analyses of Pesticides (ANCAP) and has in place a system of split sample analyses for
pesticides with colleagues in Kenya, Uganda and Sweden. The laboratory also forms part of
the Great Lakes Instrumentation Collaboratory, led by Dr Alanah Fitch of the Loyola
University Chicago, which is a web-based system for real time assistance with chemical
analyses. They have various reference materials and participate in laboratory performance
studies, notably the IAEA global intercomparison exercises. They maintain instrument logs
and a sample registry. Overall, the credibility of results is manifest in the training of
postgraduate students (6 MSc and 3 PhD) and the publication record in the peer-reviewed
international literature. Finally, the Chemistry Department also has a laboratory containing
two atomic absorption spectrophotometers, one of which has an autosampler and graphite
furnace facility. No information was available regarding QA/QC practises. It should be noted
that this instrument is more sensitive than ICP-OES and so might be of use for analyses of
samples exhibiting metal concentrations below the detection limit of ICP-OES.

3.5.2 National Environment Management Council (NEMC)

Dr Ruzika N. Muheto is the Director of Environmental Planning and Research at the National
Environment Management Council (NEMC). He indicated that NEMC would have a
coordinating role for WIO-LaB in Tanzania. He noted that monitoring fell within the mandate
of NEMC, but that this activity was contracted to the University of Dar es Salaam. Capacity
building for monitoring was considered a priority. However, he felt that the sustainability of
marine pollution monitoring after the lifetime of the WIO-LaB project would depend upon
several factors, including outcomes from the project and the stability / retention of trained
staff and project leadership.


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3.5.3 Institute of Marine Sciences (IMS)

Dr Salim Mohammed is a staff member at the Institute of Marine Sciences (IMS) in Zanzibar.
IMS is part of the University of Dar es Salaam. Working in a university setting, there is no
monitoring programme, but marine investigations have comprised a series of short-term case
studies concentrating on nutrients in seawater around Zanzibar and in the Port of Dar es
Salaam. Many of these projects have received support form external donors (i.e. Sweden,
Israel, and Canada) through the provision of equipment, training and collaborative research.
IMS maintains close links with the main campus of the University of Dar es Salaam, notably
running field programmes for students from the mainland and providing facilities for
postgraduate students and staff.

Considering the chemical laboratories, IMS has very limited space at this time. However, a
new facility has been planned and construction will start soon. Staff has had the opportunity
to advise on laboratory needs and design. IMS has three chemical laboratories. The hydrolab
is used for general chemistry, nutrient analyses, microbiological studies and sample
preparation for metal analyses. It is equipped with a freeze-dryer and centrifuge, but fume
cupboards have yet to be installed. Next door is the instrument room containing a new atomic
absorption spectrophotometer equipped with flame, quartz furnace and graphite furnace
capabilities. Other apparatus includes a CHN analyser, liquid scintillation counter, UV/visible
spectrophotometer and balances. Finally, there is a pesticide laboratory, which is used only
for sample preparation. Sample extracts are analysed at the Chemistry Department, University
of Dar es Salaam.

IMS has a problem with instrument maintenance. My advice was that they request the
assistance of experienced staff at the Chemistry Department, who seems to be adept at
servicing instrumentation. As regards sample collection, they have a small boat suitable for
inshore work. IMS has grab samplers, but the water samplers are old and not working
properly. Surface water samples are collected by hand.

The laboratories at IMS have no set QA/QC procedures, with data quality being the
responsibility of individual researchers and students. Thus, there are no samples logs, no
sample registry, and no participation in laboratory performance studies. Whereas instrument
user logs are recorded, there are no quality control charts to monitor analytical performance.

Comments

Although Tanzania has no national marine pollution-monitoring programme, both
experienced staff and appropriate instrumentation to serve the needs of the anticipated WIO-
LaB monitoring programme are available at the University of Dar es Salaam. The laboratory
for pesticide residue analysis on the main campus has good QA/QC procedures in place, and
produces credible data, as best manifested by the success of their postgraduate students and
international publication record. As far as metal measurements are concerned, the laboratory
needs to put into place better laboratory management, including QA/QC procedures. The
same is true for nutrients analyses that are expected to be undertaken at the Institute of Marine
Sciences. Metal analyses could also be undertaken at IMS.


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3.6 Comoros

Dr Said Omar Said Hamidou (PNAC) and Dr Hamza Abdou Azali (INRAPE) acted as local
hosts to various institutions and government departments in Comoros. The visit was catalytic
in the sense that it was recognised that national network building would necessarily be the
first step in participating in WIO-LaB. Different organisations in Comoros are coming
together to scope out the Project and how best Comoros can rise to meet the challenges of
marine pollution monitoring.

3.6.1 Ministère du Développement Rural, de la Pêche, de l'Artisanat et de l'Environnement

Brief discussions with Mr Hamadi Idaroussi, Secretary General, focussed on the WIO-LaB
Project in broad terms and outlined the role of the IAEA Monaco Laboratory. Probably
requirements in the Comoros were considered, together with possibilities for welcoming
fellows in Monaco. The WIO-LaB Project should serve as a springboard to attract additional
donor support, with France, Canada and Sweden as potential sources in the first instance.

3.6.2 University of Comoros

Hosts at the University of Comoros included Dr Damir Ben Ali, the President of the
university, and Dr Kamaliddine Afraitaine, Dean of the Faculty of Science and Technology.
As above, discussions were of an informative nature. Founded in 2003, the university has
local staff that has been educated throughout the world. As a result, they have several
partnerships with external universities and organisations, including the University of
Perpignan, France, for a programme in food quality / safety. Of interest was the possibility of
having graduate students undertake training at the IAEA Monaco Laboratory. The
International Development Agencies of Canada (CIDA) and Sweden (SIDA) might fund
scholarships in this vein, particularly if clearly linked to a high visibility project such as WIO-
LaB.

3.6.3 Pharmacie Nationale Autonome des Comores (PNAC)

Dr Tadjiri Ahamada is the Director General of the Pharmacie Nationale Autonome des
Comores (PNAC). The prime purpose of the laboratory complex is the production and
analysis of various medications. Thus, they do not yet have a marine monitoring role and only
some of the facilities are of relevance to the WIO-LaB Project. There is a small
physicochemical laboratory, equipped with a colorimeter, flame photometer, high
performance liquid chromatograph (not functioning during visit due to software problems)
and a balance. There is a microbiological laboratory, having various items of field equipment,
together with conductivity and pH meters. They analyse a range of waters, including marine,
on a demand basis.

3.6.4 Groupement d'Intérêts Economiques (GIE)

The GIE is a small laboratory focusing on the quality of durable products, notably spices of
economic importance due to export. The general laboratory has ample bench space, and
contains a rotavaporator, polarimeter and Soxhlet extraction glassware. An instrument room

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houses an UV/visible spectrophotometer and a gas chromatograph with a flame ionisation
detector (GC-FID). The later was not functioning because gas generators for hydrogen and
nitrogen were not operative, and using gas cylinders is prohibitively expensive.

3.6.5 Institut National pour la Recherche d'Agriculture, de la Pêche et de l'Environnement
(INRAPE)

The laboratory at INRAPE is used only intermittently, and consists of a single room. Work
centres on bioresources, and waters are not currently analysed. Regarding equipment, they
have a good UV/visible spectrophotometer, balance, refrigerator and a fume cupboard.

3.6.6 Direction Nationale de l'Environnement

A final wrap-up session was held with Ms Ali Abdullah Fatouma, the Head of Department.
Regarding potential pollution threats, the island is relatively sparsely populate and so has
relatively limited inputs to the ocean. There is no major industry and only artisanal
agriculture. The port is likely to be the most important hot spot on Grand Comoros.
Otherwise, the main pollution seems to be due to waste and litter problems along the beach ­
visible pollution. I suggested that the ministry should organise a beach clean-up programme,
starting with a pilot study in Mitsamiouli through mobilizing local school children in the first
instance. I noted that Dr Ellik Adler, Coordinator of the Regional Seas Programme in UNEP
had an interest in this area and could be contacted for additional advice.

Comments

There is no national marine pollution monitoring programme, and no current experience in the
measurement of key pollutants of interest to WIO-LaB, other than the expertise for
microbiological analyses at PNAC. However, there are well-trained and capable analysts, and
some of the equipment required to undertake some determinations. PNAC and INRAPE plan
to work jointly to establish a viable nutrient in seawater programme. This should be feasible,
noting that IRAPE has a good working UV/visible spectrophotometer. Someone will need
training at a regional laboratory that routinely makes such measurements. As regards the
analysis of organic pollutants, GIE could serve as the national centre for such analyses. They
have a gas chromatograph, but need their gas generators to be serviced and an electron
capture detector to be added, provided the current instrument is not too old to be upgraded.
Similarly, a person needs to be trained in analytical techniques and setting up appropriate
QA/QC protocols. There is none of the instrumentation and equipment necessary for
undertaking metal analyses. This should be a regional responsibility in the short to medium
term, and ultimately will depend on the success of Comoros attracting external donors (i.e.
France, Canada, or Sweden) perhaps using the high visibility of the WIO-LaB Project in
formulating appropriate proposals. Finally, a beach clean-up campaign was suggested.


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3.7 Kenya

3.7.1 Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute (KMFRI)

Discussions at the Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute in Mombassa were
predominantly with research scientists Dr Daniel Munga and Dr Joseph Kamau, but I also
made a courtesy visit to Dr Johnson Kazungu, Director. KMFRFI has the mandate in Kenya
for marine monitoring, but there is no national monitoring programme. They have been
involved in a number of case studies and undertaken project-driven targeted monitoring,
usually aimed at integrated coastal management. The geographic focus tends to be Mombassa
and the southern coast, but some studies have been conducted elsewhere in the Kenyan
coastal zone. They mostly study waters (surface, ground and marine) and sediments, but have
also examined marine biota with a view to verifying seafood quality for consumption.
Standard water quality parameters, microbiological assays and nutrients are measured in
water samples. Some past studies have included chlorophyll a. For sediments and biota, the
main interest has been metals and little work has been done regarding organic contaminants.
Extractable nutrients are also measured on occasion.

External donors, including EU, Belgium, the Netherlands and Sweden, have funded many of
the projects. Apart from chemical monitoring studies, research topics have included sediment
dynamics, harmful algal blooms, the fate of wastes discharged to sea from fish processing
plants, coral reef conservation, leaching of metals from solid waste dumpsites and subsequent
water-sediment exchange processes, and the ability of mangroves to filter and treat naturally
domestic sewage.

The laboratories at KMFRI are relatively small, but current difficulties with restricted space
should improve when some new rooms under construction are completed later this year. The
nutrient laboratory has a dual channel autoanalyzer, which is currently not working due to a
problem with the autosampler. Thus, measurements are currently made manually using an
UV/visible spectrophotometer. Other apparatus includes balances and centrifuges. The
microbiological laboratory is particularly cramped, but has everything necessary for
measuring routine indicator organisms: laminar flow cabinet, fume cupboard, oven, water
bath, autoclave, and refrigerator, all of which were in operating condition. Studies focus on
waters (ground waters, beaches, and runoff), but sometimes include an assessment of seafood
quality. The instrument room houses an old flame atomic absorption spectrophotometer,
which no longer works, and two gas chromatographs equipped with flame ionisation
detectors. One also has an electron capture detector that is not functioning. There is a general
laboratory for chemistry and physics. This is used for sample handling and preparation.
Equipment includes a set of sieves, Soxhlet extraction glassware, and the water distillation
system. A biology laboratory houses another UV/visible spectrophotometer, together with a
microbalance and some microscopes. KMFRI gets good IT support through the provision of
GIS expertise and maintenance of an extensive bibliographic database. Finally, KMFRI has
small boats for inshore work and access to larger vessels belonging to the Kenyan Wildlife
Service for coastal studies. They have Niskin water samplers, a sediment grab and a corer.

With respect to quality management of the laboratory, no consistent procedures have been
adopted. Record keeping has been the individual responsibility of project managers, and has

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varied from project to project. Thus, there are no sample log sheets, sample register, or
instrument logs. The laboratories have some reference materials from the IAEA and NIST,
but do not maintain quality control charts. Also, they do not participate in external laboratory
performance studies.

3.7.2 Kenyatta University

In the company of Ms Salome Machua (Senior Research Coordinator, Coastal Marine and
Freshwater Department, National Environmental Management Authority), I visited Kenyatta
University. Dr Godfrey Olukoye and Dr Stephen Anyango, two lecturers from the Department
of Environmental Science, described the university's marine programme and projects.
Kenyatta University now offers an MSc degree in the Environmental Science, in which
pollution control and industrial safety are important components. Marine ecology is taught at
undergraduate and postgraduate levels. As a university, no monitoring of chemical pollutants
in the marine environment has been undertaken. Research projects in marine ecosystems have
featured studies of heavy metals, but no work on organic contaminants has been done. Given
the limited availability of instrumentation, especially in the Department of Environmental
Sciences, samples are analysed making use of other facilities on campus, elsewhere in Nairobi
and other locations in Kenya. Thus, they consider that the strength of the university and
potential value to WIO-LaB is its human resources, notably academic leadership in marine
ecosystem studies.

The facilities in the Chemistry Department comprise a set of five laboratories. There is a very
large general laboratory for inorganic analyses, used for sample preparation for metal
analyses. There are old fume cupboards and two Kjeldhal Nitrogen Analysers. Similarly, there
is a spacious natural products laboratory, used for organic chemistry and sample preparation
for chromatographic analyses. There is a smaller preparation laboratory housing balances and
centrifuges. There are two instrument rooms. One contains a flame atomic absorption
spectrophotometer and two flame photometers. The other is overflowing with various old
pieces of equipment, notably gas chromatographs of which several are not operational. Of
note, there is one gas chromatograph with both flame ionisation and electron capture detectors
(FID, ECD). There are two ancient gas chromatographs, apparently still functioning, that have
either an IFD or an ECD. Among other items is an infrared spectrophotometer, a CHN
analyser (not working) and a polarograph. Given the overall state of the laboratories and the
apparently poor housekeeping practises, especially in the organic instrument room, it is
difficult to believe that reliable results for trace analyses of organic pollutants in marine
samples could be obtained under such conditions.

The laboratories in the Department of Environmental Sciences are for undergraduate teaching.
These new facilities are very spacious with new fume cupboards, but contain little in the way
of sophisticated instrumentation. A preparation room has an oven, refrigerator and some field
equipment. An attached storeroom houses a number of other pieces of field equipment (i.e.
turbiditimeters, conductivity meters, dissolved oxygen probes, and pH meters), together with
several balances, microscopes, water baths and centrifuges.

The laboratories at Kenyatta University have no quality management procedures in place. The
facilities are predominantly for undergraduate teaching. Individual researchers keep their own

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sample logs and sample registry. There are no instrument logs. The laboratories have no
reference materials and do not participate in external laboratory performance studies.

Comments

Kenya has no national monitoring programme and it is not clear how internal resources will
be used to implement the WIO-LaB Project. The National Environmental Management
Authority has the coordinating role for the WIO-LaB Project in Kenya and apparently the
Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute in Mombassa will be the lead organisation for
monitoring. KFMRI have the prerequisite experience and sampling facilities for undertaking
the water quality monitoring, including microbiological and nutrient analyses. For organic
contaminants in sediments, the gas chromatographic facilities in KMFRI are suitable for
petroleum hydrocarbon analyses, but would need to be upgraded in order to be able to
measure organochlorinated pesticides and PCBs. Neither KFMRI nor Kenyatta University has
a graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometer, as required for measuring metals in
marine sediments. However, such an instrument is available at other institutions in Kenya that
were not visited.

4
CONCLUSIONS

1.
None of the countries visited in the Western Indian Ocean region has a
comprehensive national monitoring programme. Chemical measurements in the
marine environment have tended to be project-driven. Most such campaigns have
focussed on water quality through determinations of standard physicochemical
parameters, nutrients and microbiological indicator organisms. With the exception
of nutrients analyses in Comoros, all countries have experience monitoring these
parameters. Comoros does have the necessary instrumentation for nutrient
analyses.

2.
Regarding organic contaminant analyses, suitable instrumentation is available in
South Africa, Mauritius, Madagascar, and Tanzania to determine petroleum
hydrocarbons and organochlorinated compounds in marine sediments. In both
Comoros and Kenya, there are operating gas chromatographs with flame
ionisation detectors suitable for measuring petroleum hydrocarbons. Depending
on the age of these instruments, it may be possible to upgrade them by adding an
electron capture detector, thereby enabling the analysis of organochlorinated
compounds. Mozambique has no functioning gas chromatograph. With respect to
metal determinations, suitable instrumentation exists in South Africa, Mauritius,
Madagascar, and Tanzania. However, Mozambique, Comoros and Kenya do not
have a graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometer, at least in the
laboratories visited.

3.
Regarding sampling, all countries have or have access to small boats suitable for
coastal studies. Water bottles are available in all countries except Comoros,
although in some cases they may need to be refurbished. There is much less
experience in the region with handling sediment samples as compared to waters.
Sediment grabs are available in Kenya, South Africa and Tanzania, but seemingly

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not in Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, and Mozambique. Full participation in
the pollution monitoring will require ready access to a grab, procured through the
WIO-LaB project if necessary. Whereas a Shipek grab would be the preferred
choice, cost considerations are likely to favour the procurement of Van Veen
grabs.

4.
The laboratories in the region have incomplete or non-existent quality
management practices in effect. Establishing appropriate and uniform quality
assurance / quality control procedures in the region is a priority. QA / QC must be
emphasised in all training courses. With respect to nutrient analyses, someone
from Comoros must be trained.

5.
Maintenance of instruments is a problem in the region. There are limited service
personnel, with the result that visits for diagnostics and repair tends to be costly.
However, the efficacy of staff in the Chemistry Department of the University of
Dar es Salaam in servicing their own instruments, notably gas chromatographs,
was noticed. Perhaps the WIO-Lab project could use these staff to help service,
maintain and upgrade instruments in the region.

6.
Some of the countries seem to expect to rely on using universities and university
students to run monitoring programmes. This is ill advised if students exclusively
are to be used to make the measurements. While acknowledging that there is value
in augmenting human resources in this way, there are long-term doubts about the
sustainability of a monitoring programme. Moreover, if there is a marked turnover
of staff or students, then additional problems may arise regarding leadership,
training, knowledge management and harmonisation of data quality over the
period of the project.

7.
The sustainability of the marine pollution monitoring programme after the lifetime
of the WIO-LaB project is in doubt. Most present and recent marine studies have
been short-term projects or case studies funded, either completely or in large part,
by external donors. Generally measurement campaigns have ended when the
external funding ceased.

Table 1 provides an overview of the capacity building (i.e. physical resources)
needs in the countries participating in the WIO-LaB Project. The prohibitive cost
of a graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometer precludes the
possibility of such equipment being procured through the WIO-LaB Project.



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Table 1 Overview of capacity building needs
Country
GC1
GFAAS2
Sediment Grab Water Sampler
Comoros ECD3 upgrade
Required
Required
Required
Kenya ECD
upgrade Required

Madagascar
Required
Mauritius
Required
Mozambique Required Required Required

Seychelles
Autosampler
Required Required
required
South Africa




Tanzania
Refurbishment


1. GC = gas chromatograph


2. GFAAS = graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometer


3. ECD = electron capture detector


5
RECOMMENDATIONS

1.
All countries need to establish a national marine pollution-monitoring programme.

2.
The region should undertake a coastal contaminant survey to establish the priority
pollutants, potential pollution hot spots, and the major land-based sources of
pollution.

3.
All laboratories in the region that will contribute data to the WIO-LaB Project
must establish credible quality assurance / quality control (QA/QC) procedures to
guarantee a reliable and harmonised regional marine pollution monitoring
programme.

4.
Given that most laboratories have thus far dealt largely or exclusively with water
samples, analysts need training in the collection and chemical analysis of marine
sediments and biota.

5.
Separate regional training courses should be given for the analysis of metals and
pesticides in marine sediments and biota. A regional training course for the
determination for nutrients in seawater would be beneficial, but at the very least,
an analyst from Comoros must be trained in nutrient determinations.

6.
Laboratories should participate regularly in regional proficiency tests and global
inter-laboratory studies, such as those organised by the IAEA, for metals and
organic contaminants. Participation in similar national studies should be continued
and / or initiated where they exist.

7.
A regional reference laboratory could be established at CSIR in Durban, but staff
would need training in a number of areas before becoming operational.

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8.
All countries should receive some financial support in order to be able to carry out
the water and sediment collection, and the determination of nutrients and organic
contaminants. Thus, all countries should have samplers for water and sediment
collection, together with a gas chromatograph equipped with a flame ionisation
detector and an electron capture detector.

9.
Where necessary, national authorities should take responsibility for procuring
suitable instrumentation for metal analyses in order to participate fully in the
anticipated marine pollution monitoring programme. In the short term, pollutant
analyses should be undertaken at CSIR Durban for countries that do not have
adequate analytical facilities.

10. An expert in the region should be identified that could help service and repair
instruments.

11. National authorities should establish funding mechanisms to ensure that the
marine pollution monitoring programme can be sustained after the lifetime of the
WIO-LaB project.

6
ROLE OF IAEA-MESL

The Marine Environmental Studies Laboratory can assist in implementing the WIO-LaB
Project in a number of ways as regards establishing a viable regional network of marine
pollution monitoring laboratories:

1.
Help laboratories establish QA /QC procedures

2.
Organise regional proficiency tests for the analyses of metals and organic
pollutants in marine sediments and biota

3.
Encourage the participation of national laboratories in annual IAEA global inter-
laboratory studies

4.
Provide some marine reference materials and standards to laboratories

5.
Run training courses for the analysis of metals and pesticides in marine sediments
and biota, including sampling techniques

6.
Establish communications with national laboratories in order to troubleshoot and
provide expert advice on problems relating to marine analytical chemistry

7.
Help set up a Regional Activity Centre for Marine Pollution Monitoring

8.
Facilitate interactions between the IAEA Technical Cooperation Department and
the various laboratories in IAEA Member States, via national Focal Points, in
order to promote collaboration between IAEA-MEL and those laboratories.

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Once the regional monitoring programme commences, IAEA-MESL could provide additional
support to underpin the monitoring and assessment. Possible assistance encompasses quality
assurance checks through split sample analyses, the determination of more demanding
pollutants (i.e. organotin compounds), and expert advice for data interpretation and pollution
assessment.



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