TITLE:
Contaminants Study of Heavy Metals in Soils from Fodwookrom and Its Environs, Western-North Region, Ghana
AUTHORS:
Daniel Oduro Boatey Nuamah
KEYWORDS:
Heavy Metals, Statistical Methods, Geochemical Analyses, Contaminant Assessments
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Geoscience and Environment Protection,
Vol.14 No.6,
June
26,
2026
ABSTRACT: The study focuses on heavy metal distribution and contamination in agricultural soils in Fodwookrom and its environs. One hundred and ten (110) soil samples were collected and analyzed using the X-ray florescent Analytical Method for heavy metals such as Nickel (Ni), Chromium (Cr), Copper (Cu), Zinc (Zn), Vanadium (V), Manganese (Mn) and Lead (Pb). The laboratory results were preprocessed to eliminate data noise and normalized. Geochemical data analytical methods such as the Principal Component Analyses (PCA), Correlation Analyses and Spatial Distribution Plots were applied to the preprocessed data to deduce the heavy metal elemental sources, associations and distribution patterns. The heavy metal ‘Mn’ had the highest mean concentration of 344.13 ppm from the statistical mean distribution estimations. This was followed by Cr (89.37 ppm), Zn (20.56 ppm), Cu (17.42 ppm), Ni (14.13 ppm), Pb (9.34 ppm) and V (8.87 ppm) respectively. The applied PCA determined the sources of the heavy metals from three extracted principal components. The heavy metals from natural sources loaded in the first extracted principal component made up of V, Cr, Mn, Ni and Zn. The heavy metal ‘Pb’, loaded in the second principal component which shows an anthropogenic source while ‘Cu’ is loaded in the third principal component, which is associated with both natural and anthropogenic sources. All the studied heavy metals showed direct associations in the study area but heavy metal pairs such as Mn-V, Ni-Cr, Ni-Mn and Zn-Mn showed higher positive correlation coefficient values above ‘0.5’. This indicates that the pair of heavy metals has a stronger positive association in the study environment. All the studied heavy metals were within their permissible guideline values by WHO and constitute no source of contamination in the study area, hence, the area is suitable for agricultural works.