Acute and sub-lethal toxicity of landfill leachate towards two aquatic macro-invertebrates: demonstrating the remediation potential of aerobic digestion

Bloor, M.C. and Banks, C.J. (2006) Acute and sub-lethal toxicity of landfill leachate towards two aquatic macro-invertebrates: demonstrating the remediation potential of aerobic digestion. Hydrobiologia, 556 (1), 387-397. (doi:10.1007/s10750-005-1201-6).

Abstract

A specific landfill leachate that contained 1.036 mgl?1of 2-chlorobiphenyl was used in the study (255 mg l?1 COD and 133 mg l?1 BOD5). Three, 2-l semi-continuous batch reactors (SBRs) were used to simulate the treatment potential of this method on a small scale. Aerobic digestion effectively reduced the leachates COD concentration. Regardless of dilution, the leachates COD reached a <20 mg l?1 equilibrium after 96 h exposure to aerobic digestion, however, increasing the level of dilution accelerated the process. In untreated leachate, the LC50 for Asellus aquaticus was 57% v/v leachate in deionised water and 5% for Gammarus pulex (96 h, static LC50 tests without nutrition and oxygen depleting conditions). After being exposed to aerobic digestion, these values rose to 95% and 40%, respectively. Prolonged exposure to a 1:20 sub-lethal dilution of the aforementioned leachate has been previously shown to affect the breeding colony size of Asellus aquaticus and a 1:66 dilution influenced the fecundity of a Gammarus pulex population. After remediation by aerobic digestion, however, the population dynamics of both test species remained unaltered.

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Contributors

Author: C.J. Banks

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