Assessment of Soil Pollution in Kumasi Ghana, by Vehicular Emissions Using Magnetic Mapping Method

In this work, magnetic susceptibility mapping was carried along out the Accra-Kumasi road and the KNUST Business school road in the greater Kumasi metropolis. The magnetic susceptibility of the soil samples along the Accra-Kumasi road was very high compared to the low values measured along the KNUST Business School Roadside. The maximum average magnetic susceptibility recorded along the Accra-Kumasi road was (347.26 - 349.90) ×10-5 SI while that at the KNUST Business School Road was (99.16 - 115.25) ×10-5 SI. A plot of magnetic susceptibility against distance shows a decreasing magnetic susceptibility with increasing distance away from the edge of the road for the measured magnetic susceptibility values along the Accra–Kumasi road. The KNUST Business School Road shows no specific trend or pattern. The high magnetic susceptibility recorded along the Accra-Kumasi road could be attributed to high vehicular traffic and its associated emissions. The vehicular emissions contained magnetic particles (heavy metals) which apparently enhanced the magnetic susceptibility of the topsoil along the Accra-Kumasi road. These comparatively high magnetic susceptibility readings obtained with soil samples give an indication of pollution of the topsoil.