The Ministry of Health (MOH), Ghana has provided the policy and guidelines for the management of ... more The Ministry of Health (MOH), Ghana has provided the policy and guidelines for the management of healthcare waste in health facilities. The focus of the study was to assess the compliance of a regional hospital to the provision made and also to evaluate and rate the practices using a modified Townend and Cheeseman Guidelines. This study was undertaken as a descriptive cross sectional study at the Regional Hospital of Greater Accra in Ghana. Critical observations were made of each department and ward for documentation of practices. Questionnaires based on MOH’s Policy and Guidelines were responded by health facility workers who handled day-to-day solid hospital waste. The number of respondents were proportional to the total number of healthcare workers found in each unit. Descriptive statistics were calculated using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 16.0 software program. There were 300 respondents from the health facility. Health workers that knew about the ...
Journal of environmental science and health. Part. B, Pesticides, food contaminants, and agricultural wastes, Jan 22, 2018
Neonicotinoids are the most widely applied class of insecticides in cocoa farming in Ghana. Despi... more Neonicotinoids are the most widely applied class of insecticides in cocoa farming in Ghana. Despite the intensive application of these insecticides, knowledge of their fate in the Ghanaian and sub-Saharan African environment remains low. This study examined the behavior of neonicotinoids in soils from cocoa plantations in Ghana by estimating their sorption and degradation using established kinetic models and isotherms. Studies of sorption were conducted using the batch equilibrium method on imidacloprid, thiamethoxam, clothianidin, acetamiprid and thiacloprid, while degradation of imidacloprid, thiamethoxam and their respective deuterated counterparts was studied using models proposed by the European forum for coordination of pesticide fate and their use (FOCUS). Analytes were extracted using the quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged and safe (QuEChERS) procedure and quantified by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Average recoveries were high (≥ 85%) for all...
Environmental science and pollution research international, 2018
With recent evidence that persistent organic pollutants (POPs) such as polychlorinated biphenyls ... more With recent evidence that persistent organic pollutants (POPs) such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are emerging in environmental media in some developing countries that otherwise have sparing production and usage history, it has become important to identify such contemporary source factors of PCBs and the risks this may pose, in line with the global consensus on POP management and elimination. The present study investigated contaminations from atmospheric PCBs in Ghana, deciphered source factors, and accessed risk of exposure to dioxin-like PCBs (DL-PCBs). Atmospheric PCBs were monitored by deployment of PUF-disk passive air samplers (PAS) at several sites across Ghana for 56 days. Atmospheric ∑PCB concentration in Ghana ranged from 0.28 ng/m in Kumasi to 4.64 ng/m at Agbogbloshie, a suburb in Accra noted for informal electronic waste (e-waste) recycling activities. As high as 11.10 ng/m of PCB concentration was measured in plumes from uncontrolled open burning of e-wastes at A...
Forty two samples each of two fish species, Tillapia zilli and Chrysichthys nigrodigitatus were c... more Forty two samples each of two fish species, Tillapia zilli and Chrysichthys nigrodigitatus were collected along the Kpando Torkor Lake in the Volta Region of Ghana. The samples were investigated for levels of organochlorine pesticide residues and their potential health risks to humans were also assessed. Composite sample of muscles and gills of each species were homogenized using a warring blender. The homogenized samples were Soxhlet extracted with hexane/dichloromethane mixture. The extracts were cleaned up on florisil adsorbent and analyzed for organochlorine pesticide residues using gas chromatography equipped with electron capture detector. In all, fifteen organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) were investigated of which thirteen organochlorines namely, �-HCH, �-HCH, p,p'-DDT, p,p'-DDD, p,p'-DDE, heptachlor, aldrin, dieldrin, �-chordane, �-endosulfan, �-endosulfan, endosulfan sulfate and methoxychlor were identified. Heptachlor, �-HCH, p,p'-DDD, �- HCH, methoxychlor a...
This study aimed at determining the residues concentrations of pesticides in vegetables, and asse... more This study aimed at determining the residues concentrations of pesticides in vegetables, and assessing the health risk due to the daily consumption of contaminated vegetables for adults in the prominent farming community of Akumadan in Ghana. Fifteen pooled samples, belonging to five vegetable types (tomato, cabbage, pepper, onion and eggplants) purchased from local markets across Ghana were analysed for DDTs, endosulfan, HCHs, methoxychlor, dimethoate and lambda-cyhalothrin using GC-MS. The concentrations of the pesticides ranged from 0.01 to 46.95 µg/kg wet weight. Dietary data were collected from 130 residents. By combining the dietary and contaminant data, dietary exposure to the identified pesticides was calculated. Dietary exposure to pesticide residues at Akumadan is low and there is no associated health risk. However, the results of persistent contaminants are of particular health concern because of this persistence. The estimated exposure distributions were shown to be inse...
Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, 1999
Eight seaweed species were sampled for a two year period from June 1996 to August 1998 along the ... more Eight seaweed species were sampled for a two year period from June 1996 to August 1998 along the coast of Ghana which is being washed by the gulf of Guinea (part of the Atlantic ocean). An analysis was made of the levels of fourteen chemical elements namely: Al, As, Au, Ca, Cd, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, Hg, V
Six seaweed species of the Rhodophyta family were sampled for atwo-year period from June 1996 to ... more Six seaweed species of the Rhodophyta family were sampled for atwo-year period from June 1996 to August 1998 along the Atlanticcoast of Ghana (part of the Atlantic Ocean). The species wereanalysed to determine the levels of eleven chemicalelements namely: Al, As, Br, Cd, Fe, La, Mn, Ni, Hg, V and Zn byInstrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA). Al, Br, Ni, andZn
... Isaac Hodgson Council for Scientific and Industrial Research Water Research Institute, PO Box... more ... Isaac Hodgson Council for Scientific and Industrial Research Water Research Institute, PO Box 38 Achimota, Accra, Ghana. ... Hg) as a naturally occurring element is predominately found in the earth crust as cinnabar ore (HgS) in trace amounts in minerals and rocks, and also in ...
Total As content and the As species distribution in water and sediments from the Kwabrafo stream,... more Total As content and the As species distribution in water and sediments from the Kwabrafo stream, a major water body draining the Obuasi gold mining community in southwestern Ghana, have been investigated. Total As content was determined by instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA). Ion-pair reverse phase high-performance liquid chromatography-neutron activation analysis (HPLC-NAA) was used for speciation of As species. Solid phase extraction with phosphate buffer was used to extract soluble As species from lyophilized sediment. The mass balance after phosphate extraction of soluble As species in sediment varied from 89 to 96 %. Compositionally appropriate reference material International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)-Lake Sediment (SL)-1 was used to check the validity of INAA method for total As determination. The measured values are in good agreement with the IAEA recommended value and also within the 95 % confidence interval. The accuracy of the measurement in terms of relative deviation from the IAEA recommended value was ±0.83 %. "In-house" prepared As(III) and As(V) standards were used to validate the HPLC-INAA method used for the As species determination. Total As concentration in the water samples ranged from 1.15 to 9.20 mg/L. As(III) species in water varied from 0.13 to 0.7 mg/L, while As(V) species varied from 0.79 to 3.85 mg/L. Total As content in sediment ranged from 2,134 to 3,596 mg/kg dry mass. The levels of As(III) and As(V) species in the sediment ranges from 138 to 506 mg/kg dry mass and 156 to 385 mg/kg dry mass, respectively.
ABSTRACT Urban centers in Ghana and Nigeria are experiencing a complex waste management crisis. A... more ABSTRACT Urban centers in Ghana and Nigeria are experiencing a complex waste management crisis. An assessment of past and present waste management policy plans has revealed several structural weaknesses accounting for this crisis, with indirect causes being lack of well-thought-out management and financial sustainability plans that ensure enduring financing for waste management activities. Therefore, the waste management systems have never run efficiently leading to frequent breakdowns, the consequence of which is the worsening environmental quality in the large cities in both countries. This critical situation in the municipal waste management sector calls for a fundamental reform in the approach to financing environmental infrastructure and the associated policy and institutional arrangements. In this paper, authors outline the potential for application of the concept of "polluter-pays-principle" (PPP); a market-based policy, to provide solution to the problem of waste management financing in Ghana and Nigeria.
The Ministry of Health (MOH), Ghana has provided the policy and guidelines for the management of ... more The Ministry of Health (MOH), Ghana has provided the policy and guidelines for the management of healthcare waste in health facilities. The focus of the study was to assess the compliance of a regional hospital to the provision made and also to evaluate and rate the practices using a modified Townend and Cheeseman Guidelines. This study was undertaken as a descriptive cross sectional study at the Regional Hospital of Greater Accra in Ghana. Critical observations were made of each department and ward for documentation of practices. Questionnaires based on MOH’s Policy and Guidelines were responded by health facility workers who handled day-to-day solid hospital waste. The number of respondents were proportional to the total number of healthcare workers found in each unit. Descriptive statistics were calculated using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 16.0 software program. There were 300 respondents from the health facility. Health workers that knew about the ...
Journal of environmental science and health. Part. B, Pesticides, food contaminants, and agricultural wastes, Jan 22, 2018
Neonicotinoids are the most widely applied class of insecticides in cocoa farming in Ghana. Despi... more Neonicotinoids are the most widely applied class of insecticides in cocoa farming in Ghana. Despite the intensive application of these insecticides, knowledge of their fate in the Ghanaian and sub-Saharan African environment remains low. This study examined the behavior of neonicotinoids in soils from cocoa plantations in Ghana by estimating their sorption and degradation using established kinetic models and isotherms. Studies of sorption were conducted using the batch equilibrium method on imidacloprid, thiamethoxam, clothianidin, acetamiprid and thiacloprid, while degradation of imidacloprid, thiamethoxam and their respective deuterated counterparts was studied using models proposed by the European forum for coordination of pesticide fate and their use (FOCUS). Analytes were extracted using the quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged and safe (QuEChERS) procedure and quantified by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Average recoveries were high (≥ 85%) for all...
Environmental science and pollution research international, 2018
With recent evidence that persistent organic pollutants (POPs) such as polychlorinated biphenyls ... more With recent evidence that persistent organic pollutants (POPs) such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are emerging in environmental media in some developing countries that otherwise have sparing production and usage history, it has become important to identify such contemporary source factors of PCBs and the risks this may pose, in line with the global consensus on POP management and elimination. The present study investigated contaminations from atmospheric PCBs in Ghana, deciphered source factors, and accessed risk of exposure to dioxin-like PCBs (DL-PCBs). Atmospheric PCBs were monitored by deployment of PUF-disk passive air samplers (PAS) at several sites across Ghana for 56 days. Atmospheric ∑PCB concentration in Ghana ranged from 0.28 ng/m in Kumasi to 4.64 ng/m at Agbogbloshie, a suburb in Accra noted for informal electronic waste (e-waste) recycling activities. As high as 11.10 ng/m of PCB concentration was measured in plumes from uncontrolled open burning of e-wastes at A...
Forty two samples each of two fish species, Tillapia zilli and Chrysichthys nigrodigitatus were c... more Forty two samples each of two fish species, Tillapia zilli and Chrysichthys nigrodigitatus were collected along the Kpando Torkor Lake in the Volta Region of Ghana. The samples were investigated for levels of organochlorine pesticide residues and their potential health risks to humans were also assessed. Composite sample of muscles and gills of each species were homogenized using a warring blender. The homogenized samples were Soxhlet extracted with hexane/dichloromethane mixture. The extracts were cleaned up on florisil adsorbent and analyzed for organochlorine pesticide residues using gas chromatography equipped with electron capture detector. In all, fifteen organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) were investigated of which thirteen organochlorines namely, �-HCH, �-HCH, p,p'-DDT, p,p'-DDD, p,p'-DDE, heptachlor, aldrin, dieldrin, �-chordane, �-endosulfan, �-endosulfan, endosulfan sulfate and methoxychlor were identified. Heptachlor, �-HCH, p,p'-DDD, �- HCH, methoxychlor a...
This study aimed at determining the residues concentrations of pesticides in vegetables, and asse... more This study aimed at determining the residues concentrations of pesticides in vegetables, and assessing the health risk due to the daily consumption of contaminated vegetables for adults in the prominent farming community of Akumadan in Ghana. Fifteen pooled samples, belonging to five vegetable types (tomato, cabbage, pepper, onion and eggplants) purchased from local markets across Ghana were analysed for DDTs, endosulfan, HCHs, methoxychlor, dimethoate and lambda-cyhalothrin using GC-MS. The concentrations of the pesticides ranged from 0.01 to 46.95 µg/kg wet weight. Dietary data were collected from 130 residents. By combining the dietary and contaminant data, dietary exposure to the identified pesticides was calculated. Dietary exposure to pesticide residues at Akumadan is low and there is no associated health risk. However, the results of persistent contaminants are of particular health concern because of this persistence. The estimated exposure distributions were shown to be inse...
Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, 1999
Eight seaweed species were sampled for a two year period from June 1996 to August 1998 along the ... more Eight seaweed species were sampled for a two year period from June 1996 to August 1998 along the coast of Ghana which is being washed by the gulf of Guinea (part of the Atlantic ocean). An analysis was made of the levels of fourteen chemical elements namely: Al, As, Au, Ca, Cd, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, Hg, V
Six seaweed species of the Rhodophyta family were sampled for atwo-year period from June 1996 to ... more Six seaweed species of the Rhodophyta family were sampled for atwo-year period from June 1996 to August 1998 along the Atlanticcoast of Ghana (part of the Atlantic Ocean). The species wereanalysed to determine the levels of eleven chemicalelements namely: Al, As, Br, Cd, Fe, La, Mn, Ni, Hg, V and Zn byInstrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA). Al, Br, Ni, andZn
... Isaac Hodgson Council for Scientific and Industrial Research Water Research Institute, PO Box... more ... Isaac Hodgson Council for Scientific and Industrial Research Water Research Institute, PO Box 38 Achimota, Accra, Ghana. ... Hg) as a naturally occurring element is predominately found in the earth crust as cinnabar ore (HgS) in trace amounts in minerals and rocks, and also in ...
Total As content and the As species distribution in water and sediments from the Kwabrafo stream,... more Total As content and the As species distribution in water and sediments from the Kwabrafo stream, a major water body draining the Obuasi gold mining community in southwestern Ghana, have been investigated. Total As content was determined by instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA). Ion-pair reverse phase high-performance liquid chromatography-neutron activation analysis (HPLC-NAA) was used for speciation of As species. Solid phase extraction with phosphate buffer was used to extract soluble As species from lyophilized sediment. The mass balance after phosphate extraction of soluble As species in sediment varied from 89 to 96 %. Compositionally appropriate reference material International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)-Lake Sediment (SL)-1 was used to check the validity of INAA method for total As determination. The measured values are in good agreement with the IAEA recommended value and also within the 95 % confidence interval. The accuracy of the measurement in terms of relative deviation from the IAEA recommended value was ±0.83 %. "In-house" prepared As(III) and As(V) standards were used to validate the HPLC-INAA method used for the As species determination. Total As concentration in the water samples ranged from 1.15 to 9.20 mg/L. As(III) species in water varied from 0.13 to 0.7 mg/L, while As(V) species varied from 0.79 to 3.85 mg/L. Total As content in sediment ranged from 2,134 to 3,596 mg/kg dry mass. The levels of As(III) and As(V) species in the sediment ranges from 138 to 506 mg/kg dry mass and 156 to 385 mg/kg dry mass, respectively.
ABSTRACT Urban centers in Ghana and Nigeria are experiencing a complex waste management crisis. A... more ABSTRACT Urban centers in Ghana and Nigeria are experiencing a complex waste management crisis. An assessment of past and present waste management policy plans has revealed several structural weaknesses accounting for this crisis, with indirect causes being lack of well-thought-out management and financial sustainability plans that ensure enduring financing for waste management activities. Therefore, the waste management systems have never run efficiently leading to frequent breakdowns, the consequence of which is the worsening environmental quality in the large cities in both countries. This critical situation in the municipal waste management sector calls for a fundamental reform in the approach to financing environmental infrastructure and the associated policy and institutional arrangements. In this paper, authors outline the potential for application of the concept of "polluter-pays-principle" (PPP); a market-based policy, to provide solution to the problem of waste management financing in Ghana and Nigeria.
Uploads
Papers by Derick Carboo