title: Assessment of landfill leachate toxicity reduction after biological treatment.
abstract: In the present article, the efficiency of biological treatment of landfill leachates was evaluated by implementation of physicochemical characterisation and a complex toxicity assessment. An array of toxicity tests using bacterium Vibrio fischeri, alga Desmodesmus subspicatus, crustacean Daphnia magna, and embryo of fish Danio rerio, as well as unconventional methods using biochemical biomarkers (protein content, enzymes cholinesterase, and glutathione-S-transferase), were employed. Toxicity of leachates varied depending on the season of collection in relation to their different physicochemical characteristics. Uncommon effects of leachates on organisms, such as hormetic-like increases of algal growth and reproduction of daphnids, were identified. New approaches using the activities of enzymes were found unsuitable for routine hazard assessment of leachates. Although physicochemical parameters and toxicity decreased significantly after biological treatment, the effluents did not meet the demands of the current Slovenian legislation; thus, the existing biological treatment was found inappropriate. The development of advanced treatment techniques for landfill leachates is thus encouraged.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Environmental Sciences and Engineering, National Institute of Chemistry, Hajdrihova 19, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia. anita.jemec@ki.si
authors.forename: Anita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jemec
authors.forename: Tatjana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tišler
authors.forename: Andreja
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zgajnar-Gotvajn
mesh_terms: D048908:Aliivibrio fischeri / Q000187:drug effects; D000818:Animals; D055598:Chemical Phenomena; D000460:Chlorophyta / Q000187:drug effects; D003621:Daphnia / Q000187:drug effects; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D012037:Refuse Disposal / Q000379:methods; D017524:Slovenia; D023382:Toxicity Tests, Acute; D036401:Toxicity Tests, Chronic; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000737:chemistry / Q000633:toxicity*; D015027:Zebrafish / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical