TITLE:
Fingerprints of Polychlorinated Biphenyl (PCB) Congener and Homologous Profile of the Pra River Basin Sediment
AUTHORS:
John K. Bentum, Albert Eshun, David K. Essumang, Patrick Boakye, Joseph Kweku Adjei, Obed O. Ohene-Kwayisi, Jonathan N. Hogarh
KEYWORDS:
Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs), Congeners, Homologues, Sediments, Pra River, Coefficient of Determination, R2, Cluster Analysis, Principal Component Analysis (PCA)
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Access Library Journal,
Vol.12 No.4,
April
24,
2025
ABSTRACT: Polychlorinated biphenyls are toxic, man-made, organic chemicals that have hazardous effects on the environment and our health, yet their occurrence in sediments and water from drinking water sources in Ghana has not been extensively studied. This study focused on assessment of the PCB congeners and homologous profile of sites in the Pra River basin, an important drinking water source in Ghana, considered to be potentially contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB). Sediment samples collected from twenty communities along the river Pra basin were analyzed for 12 PCB congeners. Several statistical applications to congener and homologous profile comparisons were used to compare the potential similarity of seasonal and site PCB profiles. The statistical methods included coefficient of determination R2 metric, principal component analysis and cluster analysis. Generally, sediment PCB concentrations (∑12 PCB congeners) in the dry season 98.78 - 242.16 ng/g (average 167.02 ± 31.39 ng/g) were higher than those of the wet season 60.99 - 158.11 ng/g (average 112.56 ± 27.09 ng/g). Jointly these methods were able to determine the degree of similarity between the wet and dry season PCB profiles, as well as the homologous and PCB congener profiles similarity of the sampling sites.