Contamination and Health Risk Assessment of Exposure to Heavy Metals in Soils from Informal E-Waste Recycling Site in Ghana (original) (raw)
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The effect of e-waste recycling activities on soil quality was assessed for four e-waste sites in Ghana. Samples of top- and sub-soil were collected from dismantling and burning sections and prevalence and distribution of selected metals were determined using Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy. The concentrations of the metals analysed were above the background concentrations except Cd, which was detected at the same level as the background levels. Levels of Cu and Pb increased with increasing soil depth. Levels of Cd, Zn, As, and Ni decreased with increasing soil depth. Hg levels showed no recognizable trend in its distribution relative to soil depth. The pollution indices evaluated revealed deterioration of the soil quality at the e-waste sites. Geo-accumulation indices suggest that the soil is very highly polluted with Pb, highly polluted with Cu, and moderately polluted with As, Hg, Cd, and Zn. The enrichment factor values indicate that soil from the studied sites was very highly en...
Environmental Health and Toxicology, 2016
Objectives This study examined the spatial distribution and the extent of soil contamination by heavy metals resulting from primitive, unconventional informal electronic waste recycling in the Agbogbloshie e-waste processing site (AEPS) in Ghana. Methods A total of 132 samples were collected at 100 m intervals, with a handheld global position system used in taking the location data of the soil sample points. Observing all procedural and quality assurance measures, the samples were analyzed for barium (Ba), cadmium (Cd), cobalt (Co), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), mercury (Hg), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), and zinc (Zn), using X-ray fluorescence. Using environmental risk indices of contamination factor and degree of contamination (Cdeg), we analyzed the individual contribution of each heavy metal contamination and the overall Cdeg. We further used geostatistical techniques of spatial autocorrelation and variability to examine spatial distribution and extent of heavy metal contamination. Results Results from soil analysis showed that heavy metal concentrations were significantly higher than the Canadian Environmental Protection Agency and Dutch environmental standards. In an increasing order, Pb > Cd > Hg > Cu > Zn > Cr > Co > Ba > Ni contributed significantly to the overall Cdeg. Contamination was highest in the main working areas of burning and dismantling sites, indicating the influence of recycling activities. Geostatistical analysis also revealed that heavy metal contamination spreads beyond the main working areas to residential, recreational, farming, and commercial areas. Conclusions Our results show that the studied heavy metals are ubiquitous within AEPS and the significantly high concentration of these metals reflect the contamination factor and Cdeg, indicating soil contamination in AEPS with the nine heavy metals studied.
Heavy metal contamination of urban soils and it possible detrimental effects to both environmental quality and humans have gained significant attention for decades. However, data on the ecotoxicological status and health implication of heavy metal pollution of soils in Tarkwa remains vague. Herein, nine heavy metals (Cd, Co, Cu, Cr, Fe, Mn, Pb, Ni, and Zn) were analyzed in 20 urban soils, of typical artisanal mining communities in Tarkwa, using Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS VARIAN AA240FS). Multivariate statistical analysis as well as ecotoxicological indexes were employed to identify pollution sources of metals and possible ecotoxicological effects, respectively. In addition, non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risks for residents’ exposure through oral, dermal, and inhalation were estimated. The mean concentrations (mg/kg) of the nine metals followed a decreasing order: Fe > Mn > Zn > Cr > Pb > Cu > Co > Ni > Cd. Results on principal componen...
Environmental Geochemistry and Health, 2023
Agbogbloshie in Accra, Ghana, was a center for informal e-waste recycling until it was closed recently. This study investigated the potential health risks of toxic metals (including As, Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb, Sb, and Zn) found in the surface soils based on their concentrations and in vitro bioaccessibility. Mean concentrations at the burning sites
Environmental and health risk posed by heavy metals from municipal landfill cannot be over emphasized. However, the toxicity and fate of metal in the soil is dependent on its chemical form and therefore quantification of the different forms of metal is more meaningful than the estimation of its total concentration. This study investigated the chemical form and potential hazards of heavy metal pollution at two municipal landfills in Sagamu, Ogun state, Nigeria. Soil samples were collected around the landfills and chemical form of Cu, Zn, Cd, Pb, and Fe were studied, using the Tessier Five-step sequential chemical extraction procedure. The results showed that Cu and Fe were speciated into residual fractions with averages of 23.9 and 31.3% respectively, while Cd and Zn were associated with Carbonate fractions with respective averages of 20.3 and 20.6%. The order of mobility and bioavailability of these metals are: Cd > Pb > Cu > Zn > Fe. A comparison of the result of total extractible metals with standard set by USEPA reveals that Cd and Cu level in the dumpsite soils are far above the critical permissible limit of 3.0 and 250 mg kg −1 , respectively which potent a health risk. Assessment of soil pollution level using geoaccumulation index (I geo) revealed that the landfill was extremely polluted by Cd (I geo > 5). Pearson correlation and principal component analysis showed that there were no significant correlations (p < 0.05) among all the metals, suggesting that they are all from different anthropogenic sources. The cancer risk ranged from 1.36E−01 to 2.18E−04 and 5.82E−01 to 9.35E−04 for Children and Adult respectively. The level of cancer risk falls above the threshold values (10 −4 –10 −6) which US Environmental Protection Agency considered as unacceptable risk. Based on the above findings, it was suggested that environmental management policy should be implemented to decrease the environmental risks.
Assessment of Heavy Metal Contamination on Soil around E-Waste Dumpsite in Onitsha, Nigeria
Environmental Review, Volume 9, No 1., 2023
Electronic waste (e-waste) has become an issue of major importance as production technology rapidly develops and changes, and more unknown components of the waste enter the municipal waste stream. The absence of a structured management system and laxity in environmental laws and regulations in Anambra State have led to an increased influx of e-waste into the state. It has created an avenue for uncontrolled and crude methods of recovering valuable metals from waste. These ewastes are dismantled, some are burnt without prior knowledge of their composition and noxious matters are released into the environment. This study aimed to establish an understanding of the extent of heavy metals contamination on the soil around e-waste dumpsite in Ochanja in Onitsha, Anambra State with a view to generating baseline data on the extent of contamination of heavy metals from e-waste. Experimental research design was adopted and primary data were obtained through the collection of four different soil samples at varying distances within Ochanja e-waste dumpsite , the study Area. The collected soil samples were analyzed using Atomic Absorption SpectrophotometerAAS(GBC932AA) for the following heavy metals; Lead(Pb), Cadmium(Cd) Hexavalent chromium(Cr),Copper(Cu), Aluminium(Al) and Nickel(Ni). The result of the analysis showed that Al and Cr had maximium average value of 393.65mg/kg and 161.70mg/kg,followed by Pb(111.4mg/kg),Cu(102.37mg/kg),Cd(11.79mg/kg) and Ni(6.43mg/kg).The heavy metal concentrations in the soil were generally above 100mg/kg with exception of Cadmium (11.79mg/kg) and Nickel(6.43mg/kg),while the average concentrations of Al,Cu and Cd are above USEPA standard of 300mg/kg,50mg/kg and 3mg/kg respectively. The significant heavy metals found in soil samples in and around the dumpsites in the study area likely resulted from poor management of e-waste in the dumpsite in the study area. This is an indicator that the negative health impact of these heavy metals should be further investigated to avert any health and environmental consequences in the study area.
Environmental Geochemistry and Health, 2016
Risk characterization of the agricultural soils in the mining areas of Singhbhum copper belt was done by determining the total concentrations of metals by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry and assessing the potential ecological and human health risk. The concentrations were above the average shale values for most of the metals. Principal component analysis showed anthropogenic contributions of Cu, Ni, Co, Mn, Pb and Cr in the soils. Ecological risk assessment revealed that 50% of the soil samples were at moderate to very high ecological risk. Health risks for adults and children were quantified using hazard quotients (HQ), hazard index (HI) and Cancer risks for the oral, dermal and inhalation pathways. The HQs for all the metals except As and Co were below 1, which suggested that non-carcinogenic risks of metal exposure to soils were generally assumed to be safe. However, considering all the metals and pathways, the HI for adult and children was 0.71 and 5.61, respectively suggesting appreciable risk to local
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This study aimed to determine the heavy metals (HMs) contaminations in soil of the Hattar industrial estate (HIE), Haripur, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. For this purpose, various types of soils were collected in HIE and analyzed for the HMs concentrations. The HMs showed highest contamination levels in wastewater irrigated agriculture soil (WWIAS), followed by waste dump site soil (WDSS), and the lowest in range land soil (RLS). Determined HMs concentrations were used for pollution quantification factors, including contamination factors (CFs), pollution load index (PLI), ecological risk factor (ER), and potential health risk assessment, including chronic or non-cancer and cancer risk levels.
Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 2019
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