Distribution and risk assessment of banned and other current-use pesticides in surface and groundwaters consumed in an agricultural catchment dominated by cocoa crops in the Ankobra Basin, Ghana.

•Groundwater was contaminated with some banned and non-banned pesticides.•DDTs, βHCH, and dieldrin in some water sources may cause cancer in children/infants.•Non-carcinogenic toxicity of pesticides have no adverse health risk on humans.•The predicted toxicity of pesticides to fish was higher than in Daphnia magna/algae.•Presence of DDT and HCH in the water were recent and of technical-grade origin.