In recent times, surface water resource in the Western Region of Ghana has been found to be inadequate in supply and polluted by various anthropogenic activities. As a result of these problems, the demand for groundwater by the human populations in the peri-urban communities for domestic, municipal and irrigation purposes has increased without prior knowledge of its water quality. Water samples were collected from 14 public hand-dug wells during the rainy season in 2013 and investigated for total coliforms, Escherichia coli, mercury (Hg), arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd) and physicochemical parameters. Multivariate statistical analysis of the dataset and a linear stoichiometric plot of major ions were applied to group the water samples and to identify the main factors and sources of contamination. Hierarchal cluster analysis revealed four clusters from the hydrochemical variables (R-mode) and three clusters in the case of water samples (Q-mode) after z score standardization. Principal component analysis after a varimax rotation of the dataset indicated that the four factors extracted explained 93.3 % of the total variance, which highlighted salinity, toxic elements and hardness pollution as the dominant factors affecting groundwater quality. Cation exchange, mineral dissolution and silicate weathering influenced groundwater quality. The ranking order of major ions was Na(+) > Ca(2+) > K(+) > Mg(2+) and Cl(-) > SO4 (2-) > HCO3 (-). Based on piper plot and the hydrogeology of the study area, sodium chloride (86 %), sodium hydrogen carbonate and sodium carbonate (14 %) water types were identified. Although E. coli were absent in the water samples, 36 % of the wells contained total coliforms (Enterobacter species) which exceeded the WHO guidelines limit of zero colony-forming unit (CFU)/100 mL of drinking water. With the exception of Hg, the concentration of As and Cd in 79 and 43 % of the water samples exceeded the WHO guideline limits of 10 and 3 μg/L for drinking water, respectively. Reported values in some areas in Nigeria, Malaysia and USA indicated that the maximum concentration of Cd was low and As was high in this study. Health risk assessment of Cd, As and Hg based on average daily dose, hazard quotient and cancer risk was determined. In conclusion, multiple natural processes and anthropogenic activities from non-point sources contributed significantly to groundwater salinization, hardness, toxic element and microbiological contamination of the study area. The outcome of this study can be used as a baseline data to prioritize areas for future sustainable development of public wells.

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Background: Groundwater quality is among the most important environmental issues as a result of heavy metals contamination from anthropogenic sources. Concentrations of heavy metals in hand-dug wells from Ejisu-Juaben Municipality were studied to understand the levels of heavy metals and their source of pollution. Results:The results show that the average abundance of heavy metal concentration in the groundwater samples are in the order: Fe > Zn > Mn > Pb > Cu > Cd. The non-carcinogenic risk indicates that the groundwater is safe and therefore poses no health risks; however, the carcinogenic risk exceeds the acceptable limit of 10. Principal component analysis extracted two components, which explained 64.24 % of the total variance. C d suggests that 63 % of the samples are highly polluted (C d > 3), whereas HPI indicates that all the samples are above the critical limit (HPI > 100). Conclusion:Our findings concluded that lithogenic and anthropogenic activities are the main source of contamination influencing the water quality.

Concentrations of organochlorine pesticides (Lindane, Aldrin, Dieldrin, Endosulfan, DDT and DDE) residues in beef samples from the Kumasi and Buoho abattoirs in Ghana were determined using gas chromatography. Organochlorine residues were found in all the samples. The average concentration of lindane in beef fat samples from Kumasi was 4.03 µg/kg and 1.79 µg/kg in beef fat from Buoho. The average levels of lindane were 2.07 µg/kg for lean meat samples from Kumasi abattoir and 0.60 µg/kg in lean meat samples from Buoho. Endosulfan concentration in meat samples from Buoho was 2.28 µg/kg in the fat and 0.59 µg/kg in the lean beef. 1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis(pdichlorodiphenyl)ethylene (DDE) recorded mean concentrations of 118.45 µg/kg in beef fat and 42.93 µg/kg in lean beef samples from Kumasi abattoir. Beef samples from Buoho had DDE concentration of 31.89 µg/kg in the fat and 5.86 µg/ kg in the lean beef. 1, 1, 1-trichloro-2, 2-bis-(4'-chlorophenyl) ethane (DDT) recorded an average concentration of 545.22 µg/kg in beef fat and 18.85 µg/kg in lean beef samples from Kumasi abattoir. The average concentration of DDT in beef fat from Buoho was 403.82 µg/kg but lean meat samples from the same sampling site recorded mean concentration of 10.82 µg/kg for DDT. Although, most of the organochlorine residues detected were below the maximum limits set by the FAO/WHO, bioaccumulation of these residues is likely to pose health problems in higher organisms like human beings.

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The principal active component produced by highly attractive senesced host banana leaves, Musa spp., for the banana weevil, Cosmopolites sordidus, is shown by coupled gas chromatography‐electroantennography (GC‐EAG), coupled GC‐mass spectrometry (GC‐MS), chemical synthesis and coupled enantioselective (chiral) GC‐EAG to be (2R,5S)‐theaspirane. In laboratory behaviour tests, the synthetic compound is as attractive as natural host leaf material and presents a new opportunity for pest control.

Benzoic acid is one of the most commonly used food preservatives in the food and beverage industry in Ghana. The maximum accepted level of benzoic acid in beverages stipulated by national and European legislation is 150 ppm. Thirty four (34) different brands of soft drinks and 16 brands of fruit juices available on the markets and shops in Ghana were analysed for benzoic acid by high performance liquid chromatography with a UV detector. Chromatographic separation was achieved with phenomenex synergi 4µ polar -RP 80A 150×2mm 4 micron column with ammonium acetate buffer (pH = 4.4) and acetonitrile (90:10) as the mobile phase with a flow rate of 0.4 mL/min. The objective of this work was to determine the levels of benzoic acid in soft drinks and fruit juices on the markets of Ghana. The concentration of benzoic acid in the samples was calculated by external standard method and the level of benzoic acid ranged from not detected to 564.00 mg/L for the soft drinks and from not detected to 148 mg/L for the fruit juice respectively. The mean recoveries for both soft and fruit drinks ranged from 107 to 110%. Six (17.60%) of the soft drink samples contained levels of benzoic acid above the 150 mg/L which is the limit set by World Health Organization (WHO). The levels of benzoic acid in the fruit juice samples were within stipulated limit. From the results, the Ghana Food and Drugs Authority needs to monitor and regulate levels of preservatives used by some of the soft drinks manufacturers in Ghana especially those whose products exceeded the set limit.