title: Bioassays for toxicological risk assessment of landfill leachate: A review.
abstract: Landfilling is the most common solid waste management practice. However, there exist a potential environmental risk to the surface and ground waters due to the possible leaching of contaminants from the landfill leachates. Current municipal solid waste landfill regulatory approaches consider physicochemical characterization of the leachate and do not assess their potential toxicity. However, assessment of toxic effects of the leachates using rapid, sensitive and cost-effective biological assays is more useful in assessing the risks as they measure the overall toxicity of the chemicals in the leachate. Nevertheless, more research is needed to develop an appropriate matrix of bioassays based on their sensitivity to various toxicants in order to evaluate leachate toxicity. There is a need for a multispecies approach using organisms representing different trophic levels so as to understand the potential impacts of leachate on different trophic organisms. The article reviews different bioassays available for assessing the hazard posed by landfill leachates. From the review it appears that there is a need for a multispecies approach to evaluate leachate toxicity.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Rural Development and Technology, Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi 110016, India.
authors.forename: Pooja
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ghosh
authors.affiliation: School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi 110067, India. Electronic address: isthakur@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Indu Shekhar
authors.initials: IS
authors.lastname: Thakur
authors.affiliation: University School of Environment Management, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Delhi 110078, India. Electronic address: akaushik@ipu.ac.in.
authors.forename: Anubha
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kaushik
mesh_terms: D048908:Aliivibrio fischeri / Q000187:drug effects; D000818:Animals; D059001:Aquatic Organisms / Q000187:drug effects*; D001681:Biological Assay; D000460:Chlorophyta / Q000187:drug effects; D005399:Fishes / Q000254:growth & development; D007448:Invertebrates / Q000187:drug effects; D012037:Refuse Disposal / Q000379:methods*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D062611:Solid Waste / Q000032:analysis*; D064091:Waste Disposal Facilities; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000633:toxicity*
chemical_list: D062611:Solid Waste; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Bioassays; Landfill leachate; Multispecies; Toxicity; Trophic levels