Predicting Uncertainty in the Ecotoxicological Assessment of Solid Waste Leachates

Abstract

Environmental managers need suitable technological methods to use in optimization studies to improve management of hazardous waste. One of the challenges to achieving a reliable hazardous waste classification is the improvement of procedures used forthe ecotoxicological characterization of solid waste leachates. Indeed, this step requires data that meet levels of acceptable quality if scientifically based decisions are to be made. In this study, we illustrate how the variability associated with the successive steps of a procedure used to assess ecotoxicological hazard of solid waste (i.e., primary sampling, laboratory sampling, toxicity measurements) can contribute to the overall variability of the ecotoxicity results. To this end, a municipal solid waste incinerator bottom ash and a slag from a second smelting of lead were studied using a nested experimental design. The results showed that the waste sampling design is of major importance for limiting the final variability of toxicity test parameters. At the opposite, increasing the number of replicates at the toxicity test level has negligible impact on this variability. Our approach could be of great practical interest in ecotoxicological studies not only for ensuring a safe classification for these materials, but also for improving sampling protocols and facilitating less time-consuming and less expensive ecotoxicological evaluations.

Heterogeneous Photodegradation of Pentachlorophenol with Maghemite and Oxalate under UV Illumination

“…The conditions of mobile phase and flow rate were the same as depicted above, but the ratio of water with 1% acetic acid to methanol was 25:75 Inc., U.S.) was applied to measure the toxicity of the reaction solution before and after reaction in this study. This equipment is usually used to evaluate the toxicity of environmental samples such as wastewater samples in some literatures (5)(6)(7)(8). The method is based on ISO 11348-3 for determining the inhibition of the luminescence emitted by the S4 marine bacterium Vibrio fischeri (NRRL B-11177) that are sensitive to a wide range of toxicants (>2000).…”

Current limitations and challenges in nanowaste detection, characterisation and monitoring

“…The sampling of representative waste samples, which are very heterogeneous with respect to element composition, size fractions etc., is particularly challenging in this regard and usually the most error-prone step in waste analysis (Ferrari et al, 2006). Additionally, it is extremely difficult to differentiate ENMs that are expected in low concentrations from NNMs and the natural background during analysis (Duester et al, 2014;Hassellov et al, 2008;Howard, 2010;Kammer et al, 2012;Tiede et al, 2008;Walser and Gottschalk, 2014).…”

Use of ecotoxicity test and ecoscores to improve the management of polluted soils: case of a secondary lead smelter plant

“…Several studies already showed that MTE extractability is strongly influenced by the nature of the extracting agent, which can control element mobility [15,16]. Moreover, according to Dumat et al [51] or Ferrari et al [52], solid-liquid MTE transfers during chemical extractions are complex reactions involving numerous factors that can influence MTE speciation and release. Contact times chosen for chemical extractions were 24 h for water and only 2 h for CaCl 2 in accordance with the commonly used protocols: these two procedures carry complementary information but the results are not directly comparable.…”