Groundwater in the coastal areas of Ghana: Quality and associated health risks.

Autor: Ayeta EG; Centre for Coastal Management, Africa Centre of Excellence in Coastal Resilience, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana.; Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, School of Biological Sciences, College of Agriculture and Natural Sciences, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana., Yafetto L; Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, School of Biological Sciences, College of Agriculture and Natural Sciences, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana., Lutterodt G; Department of Water Resources and Aquaculture Management, School of Sustainable Development, University of Environment and Sustainable Development, Somanya, Ghana., Ogbonna JF; World Bank Africa Centre of Excellence for Oil Field Chemicals Research, University of Port Harcourt, Choba, Nigeria., Miyittah MK; Department of Environmental Science, School of Biological Sciences, College of Agriculture and Natural Sciences, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Heliyon [Heliyon] 2024 May 22; Vol. 10 (11), pp. e31652. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 May 22 (Print Publication: 2024).
DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e31652
Abstrakt: Self-supply water sources, particularly groundwater sources, play key roles in the water supply ecosystem of developing countries. Recent studies indicate that groundwater sources in coastal communities in Ghana are under threat from improper waste management practices, seawater intrusion and atmospheric aerosol deposition. In this study, Water Quality Index (WQI) and Nemerow's Pollution Index (NPI) were employed to assess groundwater quality in four coastal communities of Ghana. The health risks associated with metal pollution of groundwater were investigated using incremental life cancer risk and hazard quotient. pH of groundwater in all the studied communities were acidic during the rainy season. Electrical conductivity ranged from 0.44 to 2.61 mS/cm in the rainy season and from 0.43 to 2.45 mS/cm in the dry season for the four studied locations. Results also showed brackish conditions and mineralization of groundwater in Winneba, Accra, and Keta. Mean nitrate concentrations in Winneba and Accra were higher than the WHO standards for both the rainy and the dry season. Arsenic was higher than the acceptable level in Accra and Keta during the dry season, while iron was higher than the acceptable levels in Accra in both the rainy and dry seasons. Principal Component Analyses showed that Pb, As, and Fe had the highest loading in the first component in Essiama, while PO 4 3- and Pb had the highest loading in the second component in Accra. WQI showed that the quality of groundwater in all the studied communities ranged from marginal to poor indicating that groundwater in the coastal communities often or usually departs from desirable quality. NPI revealed that NO 3 - , As, and Fe contribute to groundwater deterioration. Health risk assessment showed that As posed a high cancer risk in Accra and potential cancer risk in Essiama, Winneba, and Keta during the dry season. As also posed potential cancer risk in Accra during the rainy season. Non-cancer health risk was observed for As in Accra and Keta. The findings of this study suggest urgent regulations and monitoring strategies to improve groundwater quality in the coastal communities of Ghana.
Competing Interests: The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interestsMichael K. Miyittah reports financial support, administrative support, and equipment, drugs, or supplies were provided by University of Cape Coast, Ghana. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
(© 2024 Published by Elsevier Ltd.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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