Unsanitary Landfill Fires as a Source of a PCDD/Fs Contamination

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine whether a combustion process (open burning) on an unsanitary landfill produces polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs), for which several media were analysed (smoked air, landfill soil, and lake sediment). The concentration of PCDD/Fs detected in the air increased over 4000 times during the landfill fire, from 0.480 fg m–3 to 1940.4 fg m–3 or expressed as Toxic Equivalency (TEQ) from 0.004 fg TEQ m–3 to 25.72 fg TEQ m–3. Increased values of PCDD/Fs were also determined in the soil from the landfill site (2597.6 ng kg-1, 48.11 ng TEQ kg-1), and the influence of combustion process occurring on the landfill was also registered in the nearby lake sediment (23.17 ng kg–1, 0.03 ng TEQ kg–1). Due to the high sedimentation rate (6.4 mm y–1), a significant contaminant dilution in the lake sediment can be expected. The results of this preliminary study point to the need of implementing a continuous long-term monitoring of PCDD/PCDFs in the landfill surrounding environment.