Assessment of soil contamination through e-waste recycling activities in Tema Community One

Abstract

The study investigated the level of heavy metal concentration in soils at e-waste recycling sites at Tema Community One. Two soil samples were collected from six different sites for laboratory analysis with a seventh location serving as a control. Heavy metals in soil samples were analyzed by digestion method and the use of atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The concentrations of Cadmium, Copper and Mercury were all higher at all the sites than those obtained for the control. The site that recorded higher concentration for copper was about 1200 times higher than the value for the control but statistically, there was significant difference between the concentrations of copper from the six sites (t = 5.168, p = 0.0036). Site 12 and Grand Mollen de Ghana site had concentrations which is 5 times higher than the control and there was significant difference between the concentrations from the six sites and the control (t = 10.39, p = 0.0001) for the cadmium. The mean concentration of mercury from site 12 was found to be 34 times higher than the control value, however, there was no significant difference between the concentrations from the six e-waste recovery sites and the control (t = 2.593, p = 0.05194). E-waste recycling has contributed to the heavy metal contamination of the soil at the recovery sites Workers safety in relation to these heavy metals is therefore worth researching in the future