Risk Assessment of Chemical Pollution of Industrial Effluents From A Soap Production Plant Located In Bafoussam (Western Region of Cameroon)

Abstract

The MEWOU river, which runs through the town of Bafoussam, is one of the main sources of drinking water and irrigation for the people who live there. It is subject to intense agricultural and industrial activity all along its banks. Soap and refined oil factories generate pollution in the form of liquid effluent which is released without any form of treatment. A total of seven samples were analyzed during the months of March, April and May of the year 2021. The results we obtained were analyzed according to the regulatory requirements recommended by the Guidelines for the quality of drinking water and the Algerian standard relating to the limit values ​​of physicochemical parameters. The results we obtained showed signs of significant pollution in particular: chemical oxygen demand (COD: 125.32-959 mg L-1), 5 days-biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5: 23-99 mg L-1), turbidity (2-520 NTU), TDS (130-13430 mg L-1), Nitrite (4.96-21327.44 mg L-1) and many other parameters greatly exceed those required by the international standard, we have also noted a strong pollution to heavy metals: chromium (35.76- 1381.08 mg L-1), lead (0.21 - 2.49 mg L-1), iron (0.28- 17.82 mg L-1), and cadmium (0 , 03-0.19 mg L-1) which are above the values ​​prescribed by the WHO. These heavily polluted effluents released into the natural environment are harmful to the environment, biodiversity and human health. This state of affairs requires urgent intervention to preserve the ecological balance. Otherwise, it can constitute a risk for public health in the short term by deteriorating the quality of the underground reservoir known as the main source of water supply for the local populations.