Osei  Akot, Ernest  Abankwa, 
    Heavy Metals Contamination and Speciation in Sediments of the Owabi Reservoir,
    Environmental Research Journal,
    Volume 8,Issue 1,
    2014,
    Pages 10-16,
    ISSN 1994-5396,
    erj.2014.10.16,
    (https://makhillpublications.co/view-article.php?doi=erj.2014.10.16)
    Abstract: Heavy metals are potentially toxic to humans and the environment. Metal toxicity 
  depends on the chemical forms in which they exist. In this research, an investigation 
  was conducted to study the contamination and speciation of some heavy metals 
  (Cu, Zn, Pb and Cu) in sediments from the Owabi reservoir in Kumasi, Ghana. 
  The mean concentrations of Pb and Zn were higher than the Continental Average 
  Shale (CAS) and were beyond the Threshold Effect Level (TEL), implying contamination 
  of these metals in the sediments. This observation was also confirmed by geoaccumulation 
  index calculations. Canonical correlation analysis revealed that leaching of 
  Zn is associated with pH while co-precipitation of Fe and Pb is also associated 
  with EC. Speciation analysis showed significant amount of Zn Cu and Pb were 
  available in the Fe-Mn fractions. But major amount of Fe was found in the residual 
  fraction. The amount of Zn and Pb present in the bioavailable from have the 
  potential to induce ecological risk. The results stresses that discharge of 
  untreated waste into streams serving the reservoir should be avoided to reduce 
  contamination since the contaminants found in this research are mainly release 
  into the environment through human activities. Factor analysis showed that site 
  S<SUB>1</SUB> and S<SUB>3</SUB> are the most polluted sites.
    Keywords: Owabi;heavy metals;metal speciation;factor analysis;Ecological risk;sediments