Levels of cobalt and silver in water sources in a mining area in Ghana

Abstract

The study reported herein looked at the quality of drinking water sources (underground water and river water) from a mining community in Ghana. The water samples were treated in the laboratory by acid digestionand the concentration of silver and cobalt were analysed with Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer. The results of the analysis indicated that all the water sources of Bogoso-Domase analyzed had levels of silver andcobalt above US-EPA limit 0.01 mg/L of silver and 0.079 mg/L of cobalt. The high mean concentration of cobalt in the underground and the river water sources may have been responsible for a deep blue colour changeof the water whenever it got into contact with tannin in plant, hence affecting the cooking of certain foodstuffs such as cassava and plantain. However, these metals are seldomly discussed when it comes to those metals of concern of mining pollution. This calls for extensive research into the lesser known metals in the mining environment which might equally pose health problems since some of the studies on their cancer effect onpeople are inconclusive. Keywords; Biomagnifies, photographic industry, Telluride, Argyria, Tannin, Dumase, Bogoso.