Assessment of Level of Lead and Cadmium in Selected Plastic Toys Imported from China on the Ghanaian Market

In recent times, the US had ban and ordered the recall of made in China toys on the US market on account of high levels of Lead (Pb) and Cadmium (Cd) content. The Ghanaian market is flooded with all manner of soft plastic toys manufactured in China. This research was therefore carried out to assess the level of Lead and Cadmium in randomly selected brand-new soft plastic toys manufactured in China. Thirty (30) different soft plastic toys were obtained from Makola and Kasoa markets and analysed for the level of Lead and Cadmium. The samples were digested and Inductively Coupled Plasma-Atomic Emission Spectrophotometer (ICP-AES) was used for the analysis. The result obtained from the analysis showed that both Lead and Cadmium were present in all the thirty toys giving positive result. Concentration of Cadmium was in the range of 0.0658 mg/kg to 0.5689 mg/kg whiles was in the range of 0.6876 mg/kg to 50.0806 mg/kg. The results recorded were lower than 100ppm and 200ppm respectively for lead and cadmium. set by the US standard. Both Lead and cadmium are cumulative toxicant that affects multiple body systems. Children are particularly vulnerable to the neurotoxic effects of lead, and even low levels of exposure can cause serious and, in some cases, irreversible neurological damage. The positive results in this study, the low levels notwithstanding, suggest that children who play with these toys are at risk of lead and cadmium exposure. The study therefore recommends the continuous monitoring of soft plastic toys on routine basis to check the level of Lead and Cadmium entering the Ghanaian. Keywords: concentration, digestion, assessment , heavy metal

Possible Health Risk due to the Environmental Exposure of High Levels of Lead in Exhaust Soot of Automobiles in Parts of Accra, Ghana

Internal combustion engines produce soot as a result of incomplete gasoline and diesel combustion.  Leaded exhaust soot emitted into the atmosphere has serious health and environmental concerns. Lead has been outlawed as an automotive gasoline additive in most countries including Ghana because of its cumulative toxicity in humans especially children and damaging effect on catalytic converters in automobiles. Nevertheless, leaded fuels are apparently being produced, imported and used illegally in some countries as octane rating booster because of its profitability. Refined gasoline and diesel are imported into Ghana through bulk oil distribution firms. This preliminary study assessed the level of lead in automotive exhaust soot from randomly selected automobiles in parts of Accra. Exhaust soot samples obtained from ten diesel and ten gasoline automobiles were collected for analysis of its lead concentration using atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The results showed the presence of lead in 4(40%) and 10(100%) of the randomly selected diesel and gasoline vehicular exhaust soot respectively. The concentration of lead in the exhaust soot of diesel-powered automobiles ranged from 0.060mg/kg to 0.435mg/kg and that of the gasoline-powered vehicles recorded values ranging from 0.195mg/kg to 2.055mg/kg. With this rather high level of lead in the vehicular soot, it could be concluded that the exhaust soot can be a significant source of lead in the atmosphere in parts of Accra. Lead exposure is known to cause debilitating developmental and neurological effects in children and cardiovascular effects in adults. The high levels of lead in the exhaust soot may be attributed to the possibility of lead additives in the gasoline and diesel used by those automobiles. Regulators of the petroleum downstream industry such as the National Petroleum Authority must routinely test for lead in imported refined petroleum products and enforce the ban on the importation, sale and usage of the outlawed leaded fuel in Ghana. Further studies should be conducted on the levels of lead in air and blood lead levels in fuel dispensers, fuel tanker drivers and fuel loading workers of bulk oil distribution firms. Keywords: Lead, Exhaust, Soot, Gasoline, Automobil