The use of tritium content as an indicator of the groundwater contamination by sanitary landfills leachates in the region of Belo Horizonte City, Brazil

Bandeira, Jefferson Vianna; Mingote, Raquel Maia; Baptista, Márcio; Oliveira, Djalma Menezes de; Lima, Felipe Pontieri de

doi:10.2166/wst.2008.266

Cited by 4 publications

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“…Thus, any groundwater values above the mean precipitation value were likely inferred to have been impacted by other anthropogenic sources of tritium within the landfill. Even though high tritium values (>2000 TU) resulted from the atmospheric thermonuclear testing between 1952 and 1963 [34], these values decayed from 2000 to 20 TU (Canada) and from 4000 to 10 TU (UK), the same levels at the year 1985 [30]. This is clear evidence that the high tritium concentration in modern precipitation and groundwater may not be primarily an effect of the nuclear bomb testing, but mainly a result of atmospheric deposition of high energy cosmic rays and landfill leachate.…”

Section: Overview Of Isotope Application In Groundwater Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Several studies [30,33,36] have established that landfills leachates contain elevated tritium in the range of 6440 TU (760 Bq/L) (Australia), 10,000 TU (UK) and 159,316 TU (513,000 pCi/L) (USA). The elevated tritium concentration in landfill leachates according to [33,34] is associated with luminescent dial-plates of watches, gaseous tritium light sources (GTLS), trimphone, clocks, luminous paint, key chains and hospital products deposited in landfills. These sources, especially GTLS, can induce up to 6.6 × 10 9 TU (7.5GBq) [33]; exit signs have up to 30 curies of tritium [36].…”

Section: Overview Of Isotope Application In Groundwater Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A Review on the Application of Isotopic Techniques to Trace Groundwater Pollution Sources within Developing Countries

Sankoh

Derkyi

Frazer-Williams

et al. 2021

Water

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Owing to a lack of efficient solid waste management (SWM) systems, groundwater in most developing countries is found to be contaminated and tends to pose significant environmental health risks. This review paper proffers guidelines on the application of isotopic techniques to trace groundwater pollution sources from data spanning from 2010 to 2020 within developing countries. Earlier groundwater studies in those countries were mainly focused on using hydrochemical and geophysical techniques. The limitation of these techniques is that they can only monitor the concentration of pollutants in the water bodies and possible leachate infiltration but cannot determine the specific sources of the pollution. Stable isotopes of δ18O, δ2H and δ13C can confirm leachate migration to water bodies due to methanogenesis. The high tritium in landfill leachates is useful to identify leachate percolation in groundwater. The δ15N technique has been used to distinguish between synthetic and organic nitrogen sources but its application is limited to differentiating between atmospheric vs. inorganic nitrogen sources. The use of a dual isotope of δ15N–NO3− and δ18O–NO3− is beneficial in terms of identifying various sources of nitrogen such as atmospheric and inorganic fertilizers but is yet to be used to differentiate between nitrogen pollution sources from dumpsites, sewage and animal manure. The coupling of the 11B isotope with δ15N–NO3− and δ18O–NO3− and other hydrochemical parameters has proven to be effective in distinguishing between nitrate fertilizer, animal manure, seawater contamination and sewage. Therefore, in areas affected by agricultural activities, landfill leachates, domestic or sewage effluent and seawater intrusion, it is incumbent to couple hydrochemical (Cl−, NO3−, B, DO) and isotope techniques (δ18O, 2H, δ13C, δ18O–NO3−, δ15N–NO3−, δ11B and 3H) to effectively determine pollution sources of groundwater in developing countries. The foregoing review will provide guidelines for studies that may aim to critically distinguish between seawater intrusion, dumpsites, sewage and septic leachates.

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Section: Overview Of Isotope Application In Groundwater Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%