POLLUTION AND HEALTH

  Safety of Lake Victoria as a Drinking Water Source: Emerging Risks from Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) and Policy Implications for East Africa Abstract Lake Victoria is the largest freshwater body in Africa and a critical source of drinking water, fisheries, and livelihoods for over 40 million people in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. While microbial contamination has long been recognized as a primary risk, emerging contaminants such as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)—commonly referred to as “forever chemicals”—pose new long-term threats. PFAS are persistent, bioaccumulative, and resistant to conventional water treatment. This paper synthesizes current knowledge on PFAS environmental dynamics, evaluates potential exposure pathways in the Lake Victoria Basin, and proposes a comprehensive regional policy framework integrating environmental surveillance, water treatment modernization, and basin-level governance reform. The study highlights urgent data gaps an...