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Source characterization and risk of exposure to atmospheric polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in Ghana

  • PCBs Risk Evaluation and Environmental Protection
  • Published:
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Abstract

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 ∑190PCB concentration in Ghana ranged from 0.28 ng/m3 in Kumasi to 4.64 ng/m3 at Agbogbloshie, a suburb in Accra noted for informal electronic waste (e-waste) recycling activities. As high as 11.10 ng/m3 of PCB concentration was measured in plumes from uncontrolled open burning of e-wastes at Agbogbloshie. Applying statistical source characterization tools, it emerged that e-wastes were a major contributor to the environmental burden of atmospheric PCBs in Ghana. The risk of DL-PCB toxicity via inhalation in the Agbogbloshie area was 4.2 pg TEQ/day, within similar order of magnitude of an estimated risk of 3.85 pg TEQ/day faced by e-waste workers working averagely for 8 h per day. It is suggested that elimination of e-waste sites would help to significantly reduce PCB-related toxicity issues in Ghana.

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Acknowledgements

We are very much grateful to all the people that helped with air sampling across Ghana. This study was supported by the International Environmental Leadership Program in Sustainable Living with Environmental Risk (SLER) at the Yokohama National University, funded by Japan Science and Technology Agency and the Global Center of Excellence (GCOE) Program “Global Eco-Risk Management from Asian Viewpoints” of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan. In addition, we are thankful to the Follow-up Research Fellowship for Former International Students in Japan sponsored by the Japan Student Service Organization (JASSO) for giving Dr. Hogarh the opportunity to develop and complete this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Science, College of Science, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana

    Jonathan N. Hogarh

  2. Faculty of Environment and Information Sciences, Yokohama National University, 79-7 Tokiwadai, Hodogaya-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa, 240-8501, Japan

    Jonathan N. Hogarh & Shigeki Masunaga

  3. Division of Hazardous Chemicals, Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO), Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8604, Japan

    Nobuyasu Seike & Yuso Kobara

  4. Department of Chemistry, University of Ghana, P.O. Box 56, Legon, Ghana

    Derick Carboo

  5. Department of Biological, Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana

    Julius N. Fobil

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  1. Jonathan N. Hogarh
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  2. Nobuyasu Seike
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  3. Yuso Kobara
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  4. Derick Carboo
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  5. Julius N. Fobil
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  6. Shigeki Masunaga
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Correspondence to Jonathan N. Hogarh.

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Responsible editor: Constantini Samara

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Hogarh, J.N., Seike, N., Kobara, Y. et al. Source characterization and risk of exposure to atmospheric polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in Ghana. Environ Sci Pollut Res 25, 16316–16324 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-018-2090-3

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