Assessment of the Contribution of Road Runoffs to Surface Water Pollution in the New Juaben Municipality, Ghana

Road runoffs were sampled from five highways and five urban roads located in the New Juaben Municipality during the late storm events in the month of November 2014 and the early storm events in January 2015. A variety of water quality parameters such as, pH, temperature, turbidity, electrical conductivity (EC), total suspended solids (TSS), total dissolved solids (TDS), aqueous concentrations of Chloride (Cl-), Phosphate (), Nitrate () and Sulphate () ions as well as the total concentrations of some selected heavy metals (Fe, Cu, Zn, Pb, Cd, Ni and Cr) were analysed for both periods. Although the results for the studied parameters, particularly the heavy metals varied for both sampling periods, the general trend indicated an increase in accumulation from November 2014 to January 2015. This was attributed to vehicular deposition as well as other natural and anthropogenic depositions on the road surfaces during the antecedent dry weather period between the two sampling months. The highest increase in pollutant loadings was associated with the heavy metals and some physico-chemical parameters such as TSS, TDS, EC and turbidity. Generally, EC, TDS, TSS and turbidity were above the permissible limits of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of Ghana for both sampling periods. However, almost all the mean concentrations of heavy metals recorded for both road runoffs and the control samples were within the permissible limits of the Ghana EPA with some few exceptions.

Synthesis and Conformational Studies on [3.3.3]Metacyclophane Oligoketone Derivatives, and Their Metal Ion Recognition

Chemical reactions were used to synthesize 2,11,20-tris(ethanedithia)-9,18,27-trimethoxy-6,15, 24-tri-tert-butyl[3.3.3]metacyclophane 2 and 2,11-bis(ethanedithia)-9,18,27-trimethoxy-6,15,24-tri-tert-butyl[3.3.3]metacyclophane 4 from 6,15,24-tri-tert-butyl-9,18,27-trimethoxy[3.3.3]meta-cyclophane-2,11,20-trione 1 and -2,11-dione 3. The yields of 2 and 4 were 70% and 81% respectively. The conformations of the synthesized compounds 2 and 4 were studied using mainly solution Proton Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (1H NMR) spectroscopic methods. Compounds 2 and 4 were found to have a partial-cone conformation. Detailed variable temperature Proton Nuclear Magnetic Resonance studies further confirmed the partial-cone conformation for the two products, 2, 4. During the variable temperature nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopic studies, compound 2 was found to have a coalescence temperature of about 0?C. Extraction of silver ions with compound 2 gave an extractability of 82% while the parent compound 1 showed zero (0) silver affinity. A 1:1 mol/mol mixture of compound 2 and silver ions studied by solution 1H NMR revealed a novel “Molecular Roulette” type of motion.

Synthesis and Conformational Studies of Some Metacyclophane Compounds

Various [3.3.3]metacyclophane derivatives were synthesized from 6,15,24-tri-tert-butyl-9,18,27-trimethoxy [3.3.3] metacyclophane-2,11,20-trione 1 using simple chemical reactions. The conformations of the synthesized compounds were studied using mainly solution Proton Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (1H NMR) spectroscopic methods. Two of the synthesized compounds 5, 6, were found to have a partial cone conformation with the third, 4, having the cone conformation. Detailed variable temperature Proton Nuclear Magnetic Resonance studies further confirmed the partialcone conformation for the two products, 5, 6. During the variable temperature nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopic studies, 6,15,24-tri-tert-butyl-9,18,27-trimethoxy[3.3.3]metacyclophane-2,11,20-triol was found to have a coalescence temperature of about 0?C.

Correlation between Heavy Metals in Fish and Sediment in Sakumo and Kpeshie Lagoons, Ghana

Concentrations of heavy metals (Cd, Pb, Mn, Zn, and Cu) were measured in bottom sediment and the black-chin tilapia (Sarotherodon melanotheron) from the Sakumo and Kpeshie lagoons using Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (AAS). Results for the levels of these metals in the sediments and fish were compared with WHO guideline values. It was observed that heavy metal concentrations in sediments of Sakumo lagoon were higher than those of Kpeshie lagoon. Among the metals, Cu and Zn were found to be highly concentrated in the fish but lower than the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended values. Spearman correlation coefficient study showed significant correlation coefficients between Pb and Zn (0.937) and between Cu and Mn (0.613) at 0.05 levels.