A Comparative Study of the Quality of Wastewater from Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) Against EPA Standards and its Effect on the Environment

The proliferation of industrialization has resulted in increased wastewater generation and its disposal has rapidly been of serious concern in recent times to environmental scientists. The discharge of these untreated or partially treated effluents into the environment, especially, surface water poses a great threat to the environment and also causes adverse human health. Industrial wastewater may contain high levels of contaminants such as suspended, colloidal and dissolved minerals, inert organic matter, heavy metals, possible pathogenic bacteria which might be either excessively acidic or alkaline in a way that may  have negative impact on all forms of life in the environment. This study was therefore conducted to determine the treated effluent quality of Tema (Ghana) Oil Refinery against the Ghana Environmental Protection Agency (EPA standards and also assess its impact on the environment. Samples of the effluents discharged from the refinery were taken and analyzed for physico-chemical parameters as well as Heavy Metals; lead (Pb), manganese (Mn), chromium(Cr), vanadium (V), nickel (Ni), copper (Cu) and iron (Fe) for three consecutive months and their mean values compared with EPA standard. The results revealed that, all the heavy metals were within the standard of the EPA regulatory standard but mean conductivity was very high with a mean value of 10399.0 as against 1500. Also a high TDS mean value of 5358.67mg/l was recorded as against the EPA standard of 1000mg/l. Unsatisfactory mean levels of BOD and COD which reflected the organic load in the water were recorded. The BOD value was found to be 60mg/l as against the EPA standard of 50mg/l while COD value was 423.7mg/l which was far above the EPA standard of 250mg/l. It is therefore recommended that, the wastewater treatment unit of the Tema Oil Refinery should be revamped to enhance the control of contaminant levels of the final effluent discharged into the environment. Keywords: Tema Oil Refinery; environment; wastewater; regulatory bodies; waste management; Environmental Protection Agenc

In-Vitro Assessment of Antioxidant and Antimicrobial Activities of Methanol Extracts of Six Wound Healing Medicinal Plants

In this study, quantitative values of antioxidant activity of crude methanolic extracts of five Wound healing medicinal plants (Amaranthus spinosus, Anogeissus leiocarpus, Spondia monbin, Corchorus olitorius, and Mallotus oppositifolia) were investigated. The investigation used DPPH (1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl) free radical as a substrate and Ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay to determine both scavenging ability and the reducing properties. Antioxidant was further analysed quantitatively for flavonoid content, total phenolic content in the crude methanolic extracts using spectrophotometric assay. The result showed that all plants exhibited scavenging ability and strong reducing activity although the ability differed markedly among the various plant samples. The highest scavenging ability (% inhibition) was exhibited by A. leiocarpus (95.86 ± 0.1) followed by C. olitorius (94.19 ± 0.06) while the lowest was from A. spinosus (40.87±2.5). The reducing power was also highest in A. leiocarpus followed by S. monbin; while A. spinosus showed the least reducing power. In quantitative analysis, again A. leiocarpus was found to have the highest phenolic content (1294.81± 3.0 mg/g) with A. spinosus recording the least phenol and flavonoid content. The crude methanol extracts were also screened for their antimicrobial activity against four common pathogenic microorganisms (Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Citrobacter sp.) associated with wound infection by well diffusion method. All the extracts were found to inhibit the growth of both gram (+) and gram (-) bacteria organisms tested. Keywords: Radical scavenging effect, phenolic compounds, antioxidant activit

Universal coverage and utilization of free long-lasting insecticidal nets for malaria prevention in Ghana: a cross-sectional study

BackgroundMalaria continues to be one of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity, especially among children and pregnant women. The use of Long-Lasting Insecticide Nets (LLINs) has been recognized and prioritized as a major intervention for malaria prevention in Ghana. This study aims to establish the factors influencing the universal coverage and utilization of LLINs in Ghana.MethodsThe data used for this study was from a cross-sectional survey carried out to assess LLINs ownership and use in 9 out of the 10 old regions of Ghana from October 2018 to February 2019 where free LLIN distribution interventions were implemented. The EPI “30 × 7” cluster sampling method (three-stage sampling design) was modified to “15 × 14” and used for the study. A total of 9,977 households were interviewed from 42 districts. Descriptive statistics using percentages as well as tests of associations such as Pearson Chi-square and the magnitude of the associations using simple and multivariable logistic regression were implemented.ResultsOf the 9,977 households in the study, 88.0% of them owned at least one LLIN, universal coverage was 75.6%, while utilization was 65.6% among households with at least one LLIN. In the rural and urban areas, 90.8% and 83.2% of households, respectively, owned at least one LLIN. The was a 44% increase in universal coverage of LLINs in rural areas compared to urban areas (AOR: 1.44, 95% CI: 1.02–2.02). There were 29 higher odds of households being universally covered if they received LLIN from the PMD (AOR: 29.43, 95% CI: 24.21–35.79). Households with under-five children were 40% more likely to utilize LLIN (AOR: 1.40, 95% CI: 1.26–1.56). Respondents with universal coverage of LLIN had 25% increased odds of using nets (AOR: 1.25 95% CI: 1.06–1.48). Rural dwelling influences LLIN utilization, thus there was about 4-fold increase in household utilization of LLINs in rural areas compared to urban areas (AOR: 3.78, 95% CI: 2.73–5.24). Household size of more than 2 has high odds of LLINs utilization and awareness of the benefit of LLINs (AOR: 1.42, 95% CI: 1.18–1.71).ConclusionAbout nine in 10 households in Ghana have access at least to one LLIN, three-quarters had universal coverage, and over two-thirds of households with access used LLIN. The predictors of universal coverage included region of residence, rural dwellers, and PMD campaign, while households with child under-five, in rural areas, and with universal coverage were positively associated with utilization

Application of organocatalysis in the synthesis of dysideaproline E

EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Evaluation of various drying approaches on the physicochemical properties, rehydration kinetics, mathematical modeling and quality of tiger nut (Cyperus esculentum)

In this study, the quality and physicochemical properties as well as rehydration kinetics of dried tiger nuts were examined in relation to four different drying techniques. Tiger nuts were dried using the infrared dryer (ID), hot air dryer (HA-D), electric oven dryer (EOD), and sun dryer (SD). Effects of models on the rehydration kinetics of tiger nuts processing (drying) under various drying processes were tested, along with the antioxidation, sensory qualities, total phenolic content (TPC), moisture content (MC), and chromatic aspects of the dried slices. The Weibull model had the highest coefficient of determination (R2) > 0.99, residual sum of squares (RSS), reduced chi-square (2), and root mean square error (RMSE). In terms of chromatic characteristics, antioxidation, DPPH (83.55 mgTE/g db) and TPC (72.28 mg GAE/g db), the ID-tiger nut samples had the highest retention rates with lowest MC (5.67%). The dried samples varied significantly from HA-D, EOD, and SD in terms of their rehydration ratio (RR) and rehydration kinetics (p  HA-D > EOD >SD

Effect of waste landfill site on surface and ground water drinking quality

Drinking water quality of surface and underground water within 1.34 km from a waste landfill site in Kumasi, Ghana was investigated. Physico‐chemical properties and heavy metal concentrations were analysed to determine water quality and pollution indices. It was found that turbidity of 83% of hand dug wells, 50% of the streams and 33% of boreholes were higher than World Health Organisation (WHO) standards for drinking water. Water quality index (WQI) showed that 25% of the water sources are of excellent quality, while 50%, 15% and 5% are good quality, poor quality, very poor quality and unsuitable for drinking, respectively. Heavy metal pollution index (HPI) indicated that the water sources were above the critical limit for drinking water (HPI > 100). Principal component analysis (PCA) revealed 75.30% and 70.88% of the total variance for the physico‐chemical parameters and heavy metals, respectively. The findings concluded that cadmium concentrations in all the water sources were extremely higher (0.0122–0.1090 mg/L) than WHO limit (0.003 mg/L), rendering them unwholesome for consumption