Monitoring of organic micropollutants in Ghana by combination of pellet watch with sediment analysis: e-waste as a source of PCBs

Junki Hosoda; John Ofosu-Anim; Edward Benjamin Sabi; Lailah Gifty Akita; Siaw Onwona-Agyeman; Rei Yamashita; Hideshige Takada

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2014.06.008

Monitoring of organic micropollutants in Ghana by combination of pellet watch with sediment analysis: e-waste as a source of PCBs

Mar Pollut Bull. 2014 Sep 15;86(1-2):575-581. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2014.06.008. Epub 2014 Jul 3.

Authors

Junki Hosoda¹, John Ofosu-Anim², Edward Benjamin Sabi², Lailah Gifty Akita³, Siaw Onwona-Agyeman¹, Rei Yamashita¹, Hideshige Takada⁴

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry (LOG), Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Fuchu, Tokyo 183-8509, Japan.
² University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana.
³ Institute of Geosciences, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Jena, Germany.
⁴ Laboratory of Organic Geochemistry (LOG), Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Fuchu, Tokyo 183-8509, Japan. Electronic address: shige@cc.tuat.ac.jp.

PMID: 24997873
DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2014.06.008

Abstract

Plastic resin pellets collected at 11 beaches covering the whole Ghanaian coastline were analyzed for polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). PCB concentrations (∑13 congeners) were higher in Accra, capital city, and Tema (39-69 ng/g-pellets) than those in rural coastal towns (1-15 ng/g-pellets) which are close to global background, indicating local inputs of PCBs. River sediments were also analyzed for PCBs together with molecular markers. Sedimentary PCBs concentrations were highest at a site (AR02) downstream of an electronic waste (e-waste) scrapyard. At the site (AR02), concentration of linear alkylbenzenes (LABs), a marker of municipal wastewater, was lower than another site (AR03) which is located at the downstream of downtown Accra. This result suggests that PCBs are introduced more to the river from the e-waste site than from activities in downtown Accra. PAHs concentrations were relatively higher in urban areas with strong petrogenic signature. Abundance of triphenylbenzenes suggested plastic combustion near e-waste scrapyard.

Keywords: Electronic waste; Linear alkylbenzenes; Molecular markers; PCBs; Pellet watch; Triphenylbenzene.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Cities
Electronic Waste / analysis*
Environmental Monitoring / methods
Geologic Sediments / analysis*
Ghana
Plastics / chemistry
Polychlorinated Biphenyls / analysis*
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / analysis
Rivers / chemistry
Water Pollutants, Chemical / analysis*

Substances

Plastics
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons
Water Pollutants, Chemical
Polychlorinated Biphenyls