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(095) The behaviour of phthalic compounds in landfill leachates - occurrence and analytical problems. Svensson, Bo1, Jonsson, Susanne1, Ejlertsson, Jörgen1, 1 ABSTRACT- The society have paid attention to phthalic acid diesters (PAEs)because of humans multiple and inevitable exposure. PAEs are widely used in different commercial products, which sooner or later may end up in landfills. The PAEs are leached from the waste and may occur in leachates but may also be subjected to microbial transformation. The PAEs are considered relatively non-toxic, but the degradation products phthalic acid monoesters (PMEs) have been reported to cause hormone related disturbances. We have developed a method that allows for a simultaneous determination of PAEs and PMEs within the same analysis. The observation of PMEs in leachates from different European landfills confirmed our results from a long-term study with landfill simulating reactors (LSRs) which showed that PMEs could be generated from PAE-containing products. The LSR study showed that the transformation seemed to be related to the degradation conditions within the waste and was favoured by the transition to methanogenic conditions. In order to calculate budgets or life cycle analysis of PAEs one has to reconsider that an unknown part, perhaps the major part, most probably is presented as PMEs. Key words: degradation, analysis, phthalates, leachate |
