The arrival of the invasive brown seaweed Sargassum in the Western Region of Ghana was first reported in 2009. This impacted negatively on biodiversity, tourism and the livelihoods of the coastal communities. The objectives of the study among others were to identify and determine the nutritional and toxicological contents of the seaweed. Twenty four samples collected from 6 zones along the Western Region were analysed. Nutritional and toxicological analyses were carried out using an Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS) 900T. Results of the study indicated that the Sargassum samples analyzed contained low concentrations of nitrogen. However, nitrogen utilized by plants, namely, nitrate and ammonia were very high, together with phosphates. This makes the Sargassum a good source organic fertilizer. However, the high concentrations of toxic heavy metals in the Sargassum defeat this assertion. Heavy metals have implications in both the growth and metabolic activities of plants. Most heavy metals, especially arsenic and lead are carcinogenic and are capable of causing skin, lung, liver and bladder cancers and miscarriages. Indiscriminate domestic and industrial wastes disposal, oil and gas activities, mining and high shipping traffic may have contributed to the heavy metal concentrations in the seaweeds.
The 26 communities surrounding the rim of the largest Crater Lake in Africa, the Lake Bosomtwe, depend on the lake for livelihood support. Water sources such as lake, streams and boreholes used as drinking water sources were collected quarterly for a period of 2 years. These were analysed bacteriologically for the determination of total and faecal coliform, Escherichia coli, Aeromonas sp., Enterococcus sp., Salmonella sp., Pseudomonas sp. and total heterotrophic bacteria (THB) using membrane filtration and pour plate techniques. The seasonal variations of these bacteria in the water sources were determined. The results showed variation of bacteria counts in all the water sources. The highest E. coli counts of 2.9 × 10 3 cfu/100 ml were recorded in the lake and the least in the borehole 2.1 × 10 1 cfu/100 ml. The difference between the total coliform, faecal coliform and E. coli counts and the water sources was significant (p < 0.05). All the bacteria count with the exception of THB, in the different water sources, had higher bacteria counts during the dry season than the wet season which are statistically significant (p < 0.05). The bacteria contamination of these water sources renders them bacteriologically not suitable for drinking purposes; therefore, drinking these waters without any form of treatments could pose health risk to consumers. These water sources can, however, be used for domestic purposes.
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