Review Article: Persistent organic pollutants and landfills - a review of past experiences and future challenges

Abstract

The landfilling and dumping of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and other persistent hazardous compounds, such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), hexachlorocyclohaxane (HCH), polybrominated diphenylether (PBDEs) or perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) can have significant adverse environmental consequences. This paper reviews past experiences with such disposal practices and highlights their unsustainability due to the risks of contamination of ecosystems, the food chain, together with ground and drinking water supplies. The use and associated disposal of POPs have been occurring for over 50 years. Concurrent with the phase-out of some of the most hazardous chemicals, the production of new POPs, such as brominated and fluorinated compounds has increased since the 1990s. These latter compounds are commonly used in a wide range of consumer goods, and as consumer products reach the end of their useful lives, ultimately enter waste recycling and disposal systems, in particular at municipal landfills. Because of their very slow, or lack of degradability, POPs will persist in landfills for many decades and possibly centuries. Over these extended time periods engineered landfill systems and their liners are likely to degrade, thus posing a contemporary and future risk of releasing large contaminant loads to the environment. This review highlights the necessity for alternative disposal methods for POP wastes, including destruction or complete removal from potential environmental release. In addition to such end of pipe solutions a policy change in the use pattern of persistent toxic chemicals is inevitable. In addition, inventories for the location and quantity of POPs in landfills, together with an assessment of their threat to ecosystems, drinking water and food resources are identified as key measures to facilitate appropriate management of risks. Finally the challenges of POP wastes in transition/developing countries, the risk of increased leaching of POPs from landfills due to climate change, and the possible negative impact of natural attenuation processes are considered.

PCDD/Fs accumulation in pine needles: variation with species and pine needle age

“…Most PCDD/Fs are initially formed during the combustion of fossil fuels and are then emitted into the air (Weber et al 2011). Therefore, monitoring PCDD/Fs in the air is a key issue for controlling the dispersal of these compounds into other environmental compartments, such as water and soil, etc.…”

The Complex Nature of Pollution in the Capping Soils of Closed Landfills: Case Study in a Mediterranean Setting

“…Pollution by organic compounds is also a concern emerging from studies designed to address the topic of sealed landfills, as many recently banned compounds, dumped in landfills and numerous affected ecosystems, have been detected [26]. The organic compounds determined in the soil samples and the techniques used for this purpose were: total hydrocarbons by infrared spectrometry (UNE 77307); organochlorine insecticides and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) by gas chromatography (ISO 10382); and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) (ISO 18287) and phenols (U.S. E.P.A 3550B, U.S. E.P.A 3650B and U.S. E.P.A 8401) by gas chromatography.…”

Environmental risks of HBCDD from construction and demolition waste: a contemporary and future issue

“…The environmental risks of EPS or XPS insulation waste containing HBCDD in landfill sites cannot be neglected Substance flow analysis in Japan and Switzerland highlights landfills as long-term sources of HBCDD release (Managaki et al 2009;Morf et al 2008;Weber et al 2011). Earlier studies have also generally found release of BFRs from landfills in Sweden, Japan, and Canada, where HBCDD was widely detected in the environmental mediums, and in Sweden, the HBCDD in the water, air, and sediment of the landfill is detected to be 3∼9 ng/L, 0.013∼0.18 ng/m 3 , and <0.1 μg/kg d.w. (Remberger et al 2004;Danon-Schaffer et al 2014;Osako et al 2004).…”