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The use of contaminated water for irrigation is a major global concern. This study then reviews the impacts of irrigation water on vegetables in peri-urban and urban irrigated agriculture in Ghana and the associated public health implications. Considering the quality of irrigation water, loads of enteric bacteria have been reported reaching 538 mpn/ml and 940 mpn/ml in some studies. Though total and fecal coliforms and E. coli have been detected in irrigable water in Ghana, Ascaris lumbricoides, hookworm, and Trichuris trichiura were observed in vegetables. Lambda-cyhalothrin, chlorpyrifos, diazinon, alpha-endosulfan, endrin, 1,1-dichloro-2, 2-bis (4-chlorophenyl) ethylene (p,p-DDE), and hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) are the dominant pesticides detected in water used for irrigation. The presence of Cr, Cd, Co, Cu, Zn, Pb, Fe, Ni, and Mn have been reported in irrigatable water. Contaminants of emerging concern (CEC) that require detailed research in irrigation water are antibiotics, viruses (norovirus and adenovirus), and estrogens. Since untreated wastewater is predominantly used for irrigation in some parts of southern Ghana, high levels of Hg and Cd have been detected. Findings from this review indicate that the safety of vegetables sold in Ghana are largely dependent on the quality of water used for irrigation. |
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