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Assessment Of Heavy Metals Contamination In Groundwater From Afigya Kwabre District, Ghana
Subject area: Physical Sciences and Environment · Area of research: Hydrogeology
Abstract
Forty (40) boreholes in the study area were sampled to study the heavy metals contamination in groundwater. The purpose of this study was to understand the impact of heavy metals on groundwater quality in the study area. Sampling of groundwater, samples analysis in the laboratory, Heavy metal pollution index, pollution evaluation index and statistical techniques were methods applied in the study. The study revealed that Fe > Mn > Pb = Cu > Cd is the order in which the concentrations of the heavy metals in the groundwater decreases. Lead and and iron show high mean concentration values as compare to the WHO (2012) recommended values. Assessment of human health risk by hazard quotient (HQ) and Hazard index revealed no alarm for non-carcinogenic adverse risk except three communities namely NkukuaBuoho (HQ = 2.5194, HI = 2.2251), Denase (HQ = 1.3856, HI = 2.5583) and Nkwantakesse 2 (HQ = 3.1994, HI = 3.2203). Again, in some of the samples, the cancer risk values were greater than 1.0 ? 10−6, which shows the possibility of cancer risk occurrence after a longer period of using the groundwater for drinking without prior treatment. The study identified both geogenic and anthropogenic activities as the sources of heavy metal concentration in the groundwater. The correlation analysis showed that there are no strong correlations among the heavy metal pairs, suggesting different sources, independence and different behaviors during transport. The Cd, HPI, and HEI concentrations show that 10%, 17.5%, and 7.5% respectively as highly polluted due to the public sewage which is the main possible source in the study area
Keywords
Afigya Kwabre, Groundwater, Heavy metals, contamination
How to cite this paper
@article{1701877,
author = {Victor Ofori Agyemang},
title = {Assessment Of Heavy Metals Contamination In Groundwater From Afigya Kwabre District, Ghana},
journal = {Iconic Research And Engineering Journals},
year = {2020},
volume = {3},
number = {7},
pages = {99-111},
issn = {2456-8880},
url = {https://www.irejournals.com/formatedpaper/1701877.pdf},
abstract = {Forty (40) boreholes in the study area were sampled to study the heavy metals contamination in groundwater. The purpose of this study was to understand the impact of heavy metals on groundwater quality in the study area. Sampling of groundwater, samples analysis in the laboratory, Heavy metal pollution index, pollution evaluation index and statistical techniques were methods applied in the study. The study revealed that Fe > Mn > Pb = Cu > Cd is the order in which the concentrations of the heavy metals in the groundwater decreases. Lead and and iron show high mean concentration values as compare to the WHO (2012) recommended values. Assessment of human health risk by hazard quotient (HQ) and Hazard index revealed no alarm for non-carcinogenic adverse risk except three communities namely NkukuaBuoho (HQ = 2.5194, HI = 2.2251), Denase (HQ = 1.3856, HI = 2.5583) and Nkwantakesse 2 (HQ = 3.1994, HI = 3.2203). Again, in some of the samples, the cancer risk values were greater than 1.0 ? 10−6, which shows the possibility of cancer risk occurrence after a longer period of using the groundwater for drinking without prior treatment. The study identified both geogenic and anthropogenic activities as the sources of heavy metal concentration in the groundwater. The correlation analysis showed that there are no strong correlations among the heavy metal pairs, suggesting different sources, independence and different behaviors during transport. The Cd, HPI, and HEI concentrations show that 10%, 17.5%, and 7.5% respectively as highly polluted due to the public sewage which is the main possible source in the study area},
keywords = {Afigya Kwabre, Groundwater, Heavy metals, contamination},
month = {January},
}