Comparative evaluation of the results of chemical analysis of the solid municipal waste filtrate at the Irkutsk landfill

Abstract

Heavy metals are widespread chemical elements, many of which are toxic components polluting the biosphere. They include more than 40 are priority pollutants. Every year the danger of their getting them into the soil is increasing. A powerful source of release of harmful heavy metals into the environment are municipal solid waste (MSW) dumps. There are dozens of such these landfills in Irkutsk region, including the largest landfill in Irkutsk. In 2014 and 2019, on the territory of this landfill the landfill leachate was analyzed for the content of general chemical and toxic components. The comparative analysis showed that the landfill soil is extremely dangerous. The excess of MPC of heavy metals in the filtrate ranged from 2.4 to 67.6. The article presents the results of the analysis of landfill leachate taken in 2021 in the sanitary protection zones, and compared with the previously obtained data. It was established that the chemical and biochemical processes between various components of landfill leachates cause the formation of toxic compounds and become sources of infection. Precipitation forms a large amount of leachate which has significant concentrations of especially toxic substances, which inevitably enter the groundwater. In addition to harmful compounds and heavy metals, wastewater also contains pathogenic microorganisms.