Analysis and Risk Assessment of Pharmaceutical Residues in Fish from Three (3) Water Bodies in Ghana.

Abstract Pharmaceutical pollution of rivers in Ghana is overlooked due to the overshadowing problem of illegal mining. However, a greater percentage of water bodies (especially rivers) in Ghana are potentially exposed to pharmaceutical waste and pollution. The uncontrolled disposal of pharmaceuticals from industry, hospitals, households, municipalities, and other consumers into rivers is very alarming. Humans continue to fish from these polluted water bodies with little concern or knowledge of the potential threat the pharmaceutical residues accumulated in these fishes pose to their health. In the present study, the residues of one (1) antibiotic (Chloramphenicol), five (5) hormones (progesterone, 17-b-estradiol, estrone, 17-a-ethynylestradiol, and testosterone), three (3) environmental contaminants (4-para-nonylphenol, 4-tert-octylphenol, and Bisphenol A), one (1) Barbiturate (Primidone) and one (1) analgesic (Diclofenac sodium salt), were investigated from fish samples from the rivers Pra, Narkwa, and the Volta. The fish samples were analyzed using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The results show a high concentration of drugs in River Pra in comparison to those in River Narkwa and Volta. The hazard quotients for the environmental contaminants were all above one (1), except Bisphenol-A. Furthermore, hazard quotients from this study suggest that consumers of fish from any of the three rivers stand a hazard risk of Chloramphenicol (19), 17-a-ethynylestradiol (4), Estrone (1.366), Diclofenac sodium salt (3.29), Progesterone (4.598), 4-tert-octylphenol (87.2) and 4-para-nonylphenol (7.252), but negligible risk against E2 (0.687), Primidone (0.014), Testosterone (0.16), and Bisphenol A (0.642). Of the fish species studied the highest concentration of all pharmaceuticals put together is found in Clarias gariepinus, then Labeo senegalensis, and Chrysichthys nigrodigitatus in that order.