Variation of landfill leachate phytotoxicity due to landfill ageing

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Landfill leachate is a heavily polluted liquid with important environmental impact. It can be generated in a landfill for a long time. During each phase of a landfill life cycle, landfill leachate with specific composition is produced and its treatment has to be optimized accordingly. Phytoremediation offers many benefits compared with conventional treatment methods. However, leachate can have a negative impact on plants and thus it is essential to evaluate the potential risk of landfill leachate for plants employed in phytoremediation. RESULTS: Phytotoxicity and composition of two landfill leachates were studied. Phytotoxicity testing and physico‐chemical parameters showed that the leachate generated in the active part of the landfill was significantly polluted and more toxic to plants than the leachate generated in the closed part of the landfill, which did not cause any significant adverse effects on root growth of plants tested in soil. However, the highest toxic effect of both leachates has been observed in the first days of plant germination. CONCLUSION: Phytotoxic pollutants have probably been degraded in the closed part of the landfill and leachates from such landfills are not significantly toxic to plants. Therefore phytoremediation appeared to be an appropriate restoration and treatment method. Copyright © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry

Impacts of soil-soluble anions on wild and cultivated herbaceous species: implications for soil phytoremediation

“…To best of our knowledge, this is the first detailed study of the salinity and ion composition of capping soils used for landfills. Most similar studies on landfill salinity problems have focused mainly on leachates and drainage (Fatta et al, 1999;Tatsi and Zouboulis, 2002;Kalčíková et al, 2012;Hussain and Alquwaizany, 2014). As in leachates, the main anions found hereto cause soil salinity in landfills were Cl -, SO 4 2and NO 3 -.…”

“…Salinity has been one of the main impacts of leachates arising from uncontrolled waste landfills, affecting soils and adjacent water systems in both the central region of the Iberian Peninsula and other regions (Fatta et al, 1999;Tatsi and Zouboulis, 2002;Cheng and Chu, 2007;Kalčíková et al, 2012).…”

“…Despite evidence of high salinity in this type of setting, most studies to date have focused on the impacts of heavy metals and organic compounds Gutiérrez-Ginés et al, 2014) or the effects of leachates on the growth of various plant species (Hernández et al, 1999;Cheng and Chu, 2007;Kalčíková et al, 2012) or animals (Pastor et al, 1993). Further, while numerous studies have analysed the effects of soil salinity on cultivated plants, most have centred on the effects of NaCl, and results are presented from a physiological perspective of mineral nutrition or the biomolecular framework of the stress suffered by the plants (Cornillon and Palloix, 1997;Hall and Williams, 2003;Sharma and Dietz, 2009).…”

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

“…Salinity has been described as one of the main impacts on the plant populations and animals of the closed landfills of the Iberian Peninsula's central region [5,12,20,21] as well as landfills in other environments [22][23][24][25]. This problem is therefore closely examined in the case of the Getafe landfill.…”

Genotoxic effects of old landfill leachate on HepG2 cells after nitration/ultrafiltration/reverse osmosis membrane treatment process

“…Landfill leachate ability to cause genotoxic and toxic effects on various organisms, including aquatic biota (Oliveira et al, 2014;Toufexi et al, 2013;Tsarpali and Dailianis, 2012), plants (Kalčíková et al, 2012;Kwasniewska et al, 2012;Sang et al, 2006) and mammalian cell line (Alimba et al, 2016;Gajski et al, 2012;Ghosh et al, 2014a) have been assessed. However, to our knowledge, reports on genotoxic effects of pre-and post-UF/RO technology treated leachates were not found.…”