Gastric bioaccessibility and human health risks associated with soil metal exposure via ingestion at an E-waste recycling site in Kumasi, Ghana

Amponsah, Lydia Otoo; Dodd, Matt; Darko, Godfred

doi:10.1007/s10653-020-00760-7

Original Paper
Published: 03 November 2020

Gastric bioaccessibility and human health risks associated with soil metal exposure via ingestion at an E-waste recycling site in Kumasi, Ghana

Environmental Geochemistry and Health volume 44, pages 497–509 (2022)Cite this article

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Abstract

Over 1000 people make a living by processing electronic and electrical waste (E-waste) and scrap metals for the recovery of valuable metals and integrated circuits at Dagomba Line, Kumasi, Ghana. The processing includes activities such as dismantling, open burning and open dumping of E-waste which can potentially release toxic metals into the environment and thus impact the health of recyclers and nearby residents. This study investigated the distribution of toxic metals (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb, Sb and Zn) in surface soils at the E-waste recycling sites and determined the associated human health risk via ingestion incorporating bioaccessibility measurements. Metal concentrations in the activity sites were highly elevated, significantly higher than those in the surrounding area and exceeded international soil quality guidelines such as the Canadian soil quality guidelines for residential land use and the Dutch Intervention Value. Bioaccessibility was high for Pb (70.8%), Cd (64.1%), Cu (62.3%) and Ni (53.6%) which could be credited to the existence of oxidized species as a result of the E-waste burning. Non-carcinogenic effects were unacceptably high (hazard indices > 1) at 14 out of 31 sites, and the cancer risk for arsenic for adult workers was greater than 1 × 10⁻⁵ at five of the sampling sites.

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Acknowledgements

This research was carried out at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology with funding from Danida through the SHEATHE Project (16-P03-GHA). The authors thank Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI) for funding the analytical instrumentation and would like to express their gratitude to Royal Roads University, Canada, for providing funds for M Dodd’s trips to Ghana.

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Department of Chemistry, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana
Lydia Otoo Amponsah & Godfred Darko
School of Environment and Sustainability, Royal Roads University, Victoria, BC, V9B 5Y2, Canada
Matt Dodd

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Lydia Otoo Amponsah
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Matt Dodd
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Godfred Darko
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Correspondence to Matt Dodd.

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Amponsah, L.O., Dodd, M. & Darko, G. Gastric bioaccessibility and human health risks associated with soil metal exposure via ingestion at an E-waste recycling site in Kumasi, Ghana. Environ Geochem Health 44, 497–509 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-020-00760-7

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Received: 14 May 2020
Accepted: 21 October 2020
Published: 03 November 2020
Issue Date: February 2022
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-020-00760-7

Keywords

Potentially toxic metals
In vitro bioaccessibility
Urban soil pollution
X-ray fluorescence spectrometry