Cyanide contamination assessment via target survey and physicochemical and bacteriological characterization: a case study of Akrofrom-Techiman cassava processing area in Ghana

Lois Pokuaa Adjei; Emmanuel Kwesi Arthur; Emmanuel Gikunoo; Gordon Foli; Jonathan Arthur Quaye-Ballard; Frank Ofori Agyemang; Rapheal Nsiah-Gyambibi; Douglas Siaw Baah

doi:10.1007/s10661-023-11037-8

Cyanide contamination assessment via target survey and physicochemical and bacteriological characterization: a case study of Akrofrom-Techiman cassava processing area in Ghana

Environ Monit Assess. 2023 Mar 17;195(4):482. doi: 10.1007/s10661-023-11037-8.

Authors

Lois Pokuaa Adjei¹, Emmanuel Kwesi Arthur², Emmanuel Gikunoo¹, Gordon Foli³, Jonathan Arthur Quaye-Ballard⁴, Frank Ofori Agyemang¹, Rapheal Nsiah-Gyambibi⁵, Douglas Siaw Baah⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Materials Engineering, College of Engineering, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, PMB, UPO, Kumasi, Ghana.
² Department of Materials Engineering, College of Engineering, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, PMB, UPO, Kumasi, Ghana. ekarthur.coe@knust.edu.gh.
³ Department of Geological Engineering, College of Engineering, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, PMB, UPO, Kumasi, Ghana.
⁴ Department of Geomatic Engineering, College of Engineering, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, PMB, UPO, Kumasi, Ghana.
⁵ Regional Water and Environmental Sanitation Centre, Department of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, UPO, Kumasi, Ghana.
⁶ Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Forestry Research Institute of Ghana, KNUST-Kumasi, Kumasi, Ghana.

PMID: 36930367
DOI: 10.1007/s10661-023-11037-8

Abstract

Improper discharge of cassava mill effluent (CME) has attracted much attention in major cassava-producing areas due to cyanide contamination. This study conducted a target survey on inhabitants and processors of the Akrofrom-Techiman cassava processing area in Ghana that aimed to assess their knowledge and perception of cyanide contamination from the CME discharge. The study further examined the effect of CME on the soil and groundwater at the processing area using physicochemical and bacteriological characterizations. Results revealed that inhabitants and processors exhibited high illiteracy on the impact of CME on cyanide contamination in the processing area. The study also indicated a wide characteristics of the soil at the processing site: pH (4.89-8.77), electrical conductivity (EC) (1063.00-1939.00 μS/cm), total dissolved solids (TDS) (523.90-963.50 mg/L), soil moisture (11.90-31.70%), free cyanide (0.02-0.33 mg/kg), and total cyanide (0.40-2.70 mg/kg). Results also showed that the physicochemical values of the CME were all above the Ghana Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) permissible limits and were unsafe for discharging into the environment. The range of physicochemical and bacteriological parameters of the two boreholes revealed the following: pH (7.85-8.74), TDS (165.77-192.37 mg/L), EC (320.87-396.20 μS/cm), free cyanide (0.13-0.16 mg/L), total cyanide (1.29-2.15 mg/L), and bacteriological parameter (220-622 cfu/mL). The two hand-dug wells also recorded pH (8.54-9.56), TDS (140.77-156.10 mg/L), EC (288.53-340.67), biological oxygen demand (BOD) (21.51-1.61 mg/L), chemical oxygen demand (COD) (13.5-16.5 mg/L), free cyanide (0.10-0.11 mg/L), bacteriological parameter (241-302 cfu/mL), and total cyanide (0.79-0.86 mg/L). The study concluded that the discharge of CME at the processing site contributes significantly to cyanide contamination of the soil and groundwater at the processing area.

Keywords: Cassava mill effluent; Contamination; Cyanide; Groundwater; Soil.

MeSH terms

Cyanides
Environmental Monitoring
Ghana
Groundwater*
Manihot*
Soil
Water Pollutants, Chemical* / analysis

Substances

Cyanides
Water Pollutants, Chemical
Soil

Abstract

MeSH terms

Substances

Grants and funding