Organic contaminants of emerging concern in leachate of historic municipal landfills

Simple item page

Simple item page

Full item details

dc.contributor.author
Propp, Victoria R.
De Silva, Amila O.
Spencer, Christine
Brown, Susan J.
Catingan, Sara D.
Smith, James E.
Roy, James W.
dc.date.accepted
2020-11-29
dc.date.accessioned
2023-12-12T16:12:01Z
dc.date.available
2023-12-12T16:12:01Z
dc.date.issued
2021-05-01
dc.date.submitted
2020-10-01
dc.description.abstract - en
Many types of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs), including per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), have been found in leachate of operating municipal landfills. However, there is only limited information on CECs presence in leachate of historic landfills (≥3 decades since closure, often lacking engineered liners or leachate collection systems) at concentrations that may pose a risk to nearby wells and surface water ecosystems. In this study, 48 samples of leachate-impacted groundwater were collected from 20 historic landfills in Ontario, Canada. The CECs measured included artificial sweeteners (ASs), PFAS, organophosphate esters (OPE), pharmaceuticals, bisphenols, sulfamic acid, perchlorate, and substituted phenols. The common presence of the AS saccharin, a known indicator of old landfill leachate, combined with mostly negligible levels of the AS acesulfame, an indicator of modern wastewater, revealed that most samples were strongly influenced by leachate and not cross-contaminated by wastewater (which can contain these same CECs). Several landfills, including ones closed in the 1960s, had total PFAS concentrations similar to those previously measured at modern landfills, with a maximum observed here of 12.7 μg/L. Notably elevated concentrations of several OPE, sulfamic acid, cotinine, and bisphenols A and S were found at many 30-60 year-old landfills. There was little indication of declining concentrations with landfill age, suggesting historic landfills can be long-term sources of CECs to groundwater and that certain CECs may be useful tracers for historic landfill leachate. These findings provide guidance on which CECs may require monitoring at historic landfill sites and wastewater treatment plants receiving their effluent.
dc.identifier.doi
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2021.116474
dc.identifier.issn
1873-6424
0269-7491
dc.identifier.uri
https://open-science.canada.ca/handle/123456789/1347
dc.language.iso
en
dc.publisher
Elsevier
dc.rights - en
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
dc.rights - fr
Creative Commons Attribution - Pas d'utilisation commerciale - Pas de modification 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
dc.rights.openaccesslevel - en
Gold
dc.rights.openaccesslevel - fr
Or
dc.rights.uri - en
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
dc.rights.uri - fr
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/deed.fr
dc.subject - en
Land
Nature and environment
Water
dc.subject - fr
Terres
Nature et environnement
Eau
dc.subject.en - en
Land
Nature and environment
Water
dc.subject.fr - fr
Terres
Nature et environnement
Eau
dc.title - en
Organic contaminants of emerging concern in leachate of historic municipal landfills
dc.type - en
Article
dc.type - fr
Article
local.article.journaltitle
Environmental Pollution
local.article.journalvolume
276
local.pagination
12 pages
local.peerreview - en
Yes
local.peerreview - fr
Oui
local.requestdoi
No
Download(s)

Original bundle

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1

Thumbnail image

Name: OrganicContaminantsEmergingConcernLeachateHistoricMunicipalLandfills.pdf

Size: 1.64 MB

Format: PDF

Download file

Collection(s)

Page details

Date modified: