Box 7: Faeces - the most dangerous pollutant

One gram of human excreta can contain:

  • 10,000,000 viruses
  • 1,000,000 bacteria
  • 1,000 parasite cysts
  • 100 parasite eggs

Source: United Nations Children’s Fund, Sanitation for All: Promoting Dignity and Human Rights. UNICEF, New York, 2000.

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