TITLE:
Assessment of Heavy Metal Contaminants Using Pollution Indices in Ankobra River at Prestea Huni-Valley District, Ghana
AUTHORS:
Austin Asare, Benjamin D. Asamoah, Peter O. Sanful
KEYWORDS:
Heavy Metal, Ankobra River, Pollution Index, Sediment
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Geoscience and Environment Protection,
Vol.7 No.9,
September
19,
2019
ABSTRACT: The reliance of communities on River Ankobra as the source of drinking water makes the assessment of its quality very imperative to human health and environmental management. The objective of this work was to investigate the concentration of heavy metal in the Ankobra River sediments at the Prestea Huni-Valley District using pollution indices. Sediments were collected randomly from the bottom of the Ankobra River at four different communities namely: Awodua, Heman, Ankobra and Tarkwa Breman. The presence of a set of heavy metals Fe, Mn, Cd, Pb, Zn, Cu, and Hg in the sediments was determined using Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS). The results showed that the concentration of Fe, As, and Hg did not differ significantly (p > 0.05) amongst the four communities but significant variation in the levels of Cu, Mn, Cd, Pb, and Zn was found (p