title: Investigating landfill leachate as a source of trace organic pollutants.
abstract: Landfill leachate samples (n=11) were collected from five USA municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills and analyzed for ten trace organic pollutants that are commonly detected in surface and municipal wastewater effluents (viz., carbamazepine, DEET, fluoxetine, gemfibrozil, PFOA, PFOS, primidone, sucralose, sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim). Carbamazepine, DEET, PFOA and primidone were detected in all leachate samples analyzed and gemfibrozil was detected in samples from four of the five-landfill sites. The contaminants found in the highest concentrations were DEET (6900-143000 ng L(-1)) and sucralose (<10-621000 ng L(-1)). Several compounds were not detected (fluoxetine) or detected infrequently (sulfamethoxazole, trimethoprim and PFOS). Using the average mass of DEET in leachate amongst the five landfills and scaling the mass release from the five test landfills to the USA population of landfills, an order of magnitude estimate is that over 10000 kg DEET yr(-1) may be released in leachate. Some pharmaceuticals have similar annual mean discharges to one another, with the estimated annual discharge of carbamazepine, gemfibrozil, primidone equating to 53, 151 and 128 kg year(-1). To the authors knowledge, this is the first time that primidone has been included in a landfill leachate study. While the estimates developed in this study are order of magnitude, the values do suggest the need for further research to better quantify the amount of chemicals sent to wastewater treatment facilities with landfill leachate, potential impacts on treatment processes and the significance of landfill leachate as a source of surface water contamination.
authors.affiliation: Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Bio5 Institute, University of Arizona, 1657 E Helen St, Tucson, AZ, USA; RMIT University, School of Applied Sciences, GPO Box 2476, Melbourne 3001, Australia.
authors.forename: Bradley O
authors.initials: BO
authors.lastname: Clarke
authors.affiliation: Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Bio5 Institute, University of Arizona, 1657 E Helen St, Tucson, AZ, USA.
authors.forename: Tarun
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Anumol
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering, North Carolina State University, Campus Box 7908, Raleigh, NC 27695-7908, USA.
authors.forename: Morton
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Barlaz
authors.affiliation: Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Bio5 Institute, University of Arizona, 1657 E Helen St, Tucson, AZ, USA; National University of Singapore, NUS Environmental Research Institute (NERI), 5A Engineering Drive 1, T-Lab Building, #02-01, Singapore 117411, Singapore. Electronic address: snyders2@email.arizona.edu.
authors.forename: Shane A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Snyder
mesh_terms: D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D015386:Hazardous Substances / Q000032:analysis*; D009930:Organic Chemicals / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry; D062611:Solid Waste / Q000032:analysis*; D064091:Waste Disposal Facilities / Q000592:standards; D062065:Wastewater / Q000032:analysis*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D015386:Hazardous Substances; D009930:Organic Chemicals; D062611:Solid Waste; D062065:Wastewater; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Contaminants of emerging concern; DEET; Landfill leachate; Primidone; Sucralose