title: Evaluating the mutagenicity of leachates obtained from the bottom ash of a municipal solid waste incinerator by using a Salmonella reverse mutation assay.
abstract: The mutagenic potential of leachates derived from the bottom ash of a municipal solid waste incinerator in Taiwan were evaluated using an Ames Salmonella mutagenicity assay with three standard tester strains, TA98, TA100, and TA1535. Three types of leachants, leachant A (pH 4.93), leachant B (pH 2.88), and leachant C (deionized water, pH 6.0), were carried out according to toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP). Moreover, two types of bottom ash, nonsieved and sieved bottom ash (particle size <4.75 mm), were analyzed with the TCLP and the Ames assay. The concentrations of five heavy metals (Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb, and Zn) in the leachates were also estimated with an ICP-OES. The results indicated that the metal concentrations in the TCLP leachates of bottom ash were all below the limits set by Taiwanese regulations. However, leachate A from nonsieved and <4.75-mm-sieved bottom ash showed mutagenicity. Moreover, leachate A from <4.75 mm-sieved bottom ash displayed stronger mutagenicity than that from nonsieved ash. The leachate A from <4.75-mm-sieved bottom ash, that were diluted by 100-fold showed no mutagenicity. In conclusion, our results suggested that the chemical composition and mutagenic potential of leachates should be monitored to evaluate the safety of bottom ash.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, St. Mary's Junior College of Medicine, Nursing and Management, Yilan, Taiwan, ROC.
authors.forename: Po-Wen
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Safety, Health and Environmental Engineering, Ming Chi University of Technology, New Taipei City 24301, Taiwan, ROC. Electronic address: zsliu@mail.mcut.edu.tw.
authors.forename: Zhen-Shu
authors.initials: ZS
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Safety, Health and Environmental Engineering, Ming Chi University of Technology, New Taipei City 24301, Taiwan, ROC.
authors.forename: Min-Jie
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Wun
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, St. Mary's Junior College of Medicine, Nursing and Management, Yilan, Taiwan, ROC.
authors.forename: Cai-Ling
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Ran
mesh_terms: D060729:Coal Ash / Q000633:toxicity*; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000633:toxicity*; D017745:Incineration; D019216:Metals, Heavy / Q000633:toxicity*; D009152:Mutagenicity Tests; D009153:Mutagens / Q000633:toxicity*; D012475:Salmonella / Q000187:drug effects*; D062611:Solid Waste / Q000032:analysis; D013054:Spectrophotometry, Atomic
chemical_list: D060729:Coal Ash; D004785:Environmental Pollutants; D019216:Metals, Heavy; D009153:Mutagens; D062611:Solid Waste
keywords: Ames test; Biotoxicity; Bottom ash; Mutagenicity; TCLP