Federating young researchers in microbial ecotoxicology: EcotoxicoMicYR 2021, the first international webinar organized for and by young microbial ecotoxicology researchers.

The EcotoxicoMicYR group was initially composed of 4 Ph.D. students and 4 post-doctoral researchers. In brief, the EcotoxicoMicYR webinar took place three Monday afternoons in a row from November 22 to December 6, 2021. These three half-day webinars reached a success beyond our expectations with 25 countries and 41 presentations. Keynote lectures were delivered by Dr Fabio Roldan (Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Colombia), Dr Belinda Ferrari (The University of New South Wales, Australia), and Dr Ahmed Tlili (Eawag, Switzerland). Their presentations provided an insight on latest research developments in the microbial ecotoxicology field and highlighted their specific contribution to this discipline. Twenty-two oral presentations and 16 pre-recorded presentations were diffused.

Health Risk Assessment of Heavy Metal Accumulation in Broiler Chickens and Heavy Metal Removal in Drinking Water using Moringa Oleifera Seeds in Lomé, Togo.

BACKGROUND: Heavy metals are persistent in the environment and can cause bioaccumulation in the food chain. Drinking water contamination by heavy metals can pose a risk to poultry and to human health. The need for affordable, reliable and effective methods of water treatment has led to the use of plants materials, including coagulants such as Moringa oleifera seeds, to ensure poultry products are safe for consumers. OBJECTIVES: The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of drinking water treatment by Moringa oleifera seed on the concentration and distribution of metals such as arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb) in different parts of broilers chickens and theirs effects on consumer health. METHODS: A total number of 264 one-day old chickens (Cobb-500) were assigned to three treatments, with 22 birds in each treatment and replicated four times: untreated well water (UW), well water treated with Moringa oleifera seeds and filtered (MOF) and well water treated with Moringa oleifera seeds but unfiltered (MOU). Thirty birds were randomly chosen from different treatments and slaughtered at day 45 of the experiment and samples of livers, kidneys, gizzards and breasts were obtained and analyzed for toxic metals concentrations using atomic absorption spectrophotometry. RESULTS: The results indicated that the bioaccumulation of heavy metals was lower in MOF than those in UW and MOU. The target hazard quotient (THQ) for individual metals was below acceptable limits except for As and Pb in UW and MOU. The carcinogenic risk (TR) was estimated for each metal due to consumption of different types of chicken. CONCLUSIONS: Moringa oleifera seeds are an environmentally friendly natural coagulant and able to treat water containing undesirable heavy metal concentrations and ensure that poultry meat is safe for consumers. COMPETING INTERESTS: The authors declare no competing financial interests. ETHICS APPROVAL: This study was approved by the ethics Committee of the University of Lomé-Togo.