Landfills phthalates

Cushion vinyl floor covering, to landfill Phthalate, dioctyl-[water] Freshwater ecotoxicity 9 ... 

Now the question is to which substances can the contributions be attributed Table 4 shows the contribution of the emitted substances from processes for the weighted impact score. The emission of CO2 during incineration of EoL PVC and other processes appears to have a large contribution. Also the ecotoxicity effect of the emission of phthalate to water during landfill of EoL PVC appears to have a substantial contribution. 

The impact score for human toxicity appears to be relatively low compared to the other environmental impacts. The contribution of phthalates to this impact score is small. If incineration is assumed this contribution is less than 1%. The other extreme, if landfill with DEHP emission is assumed, this contribution is 3%. 

Only in the case of landfill with DEHP emissions the contribution of phthalate emissions to the freshwater ecotoxicity becomes dominant. In this case also the fresh water ecotoxicity score is substantial compared to the other environmental impact scores. 

In the sediment of a discharge pond of a phthalate ester plant located on the Chester River in Maryland, di-ra-octylphthalate was detected at a concentration of 12,000 ppb. In sediment samples from the Chester River taken 2 km and 8 km downstream from the plant, the compound was found at concentrations of 62 and <5 ppb, respectively (Peterson and Freeman 1984). In the sediment of a river that received industrial waste water from a specialty chemical manufacturing plant, di-n-octylphthalate was detected at concentrations ranging from 1.5 to 25 ppm (Jungclaus et al. 1978). At the Dixie Caverns Landfill NPL site located in Salem, Virginia, di-n-octylphthalate was detected on-site at a concentration of 80 ppm (ATSDR 1988) however, the media in which this concentration was detected was not specified. Off-site sediment samples collected at the Revere Chemical Company NPL site located in Revere, Pennsylvania, were found to contain 2,300 ppb di-n-octylphthalate (ATSDR 1989c). 

Phthalates are easily released into the environment because there is no covalent bond between them and plastics in which they are mixed. The major portion of phthalates that are found in the environment comes from the slow releases of phthalates from plastics and other phthalate containing articles due to weathering. At natural conditions, phthalates are hydrolyzed to some extent yielding their corresponding monoesters, which are also environmental pollutants [15]. They show poor mobility in soil but aqueous leachates from landfills may contain trace amounts of more soluble products of phthalate degradation [11, 16]. 

Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate has been reported in the leachate from municipal and industrial landfills at levels ranging from < 0.01 to 150 pg/mL (Ghassemi etal., 1984). It has also been detected in 13% of 86 samples of urban storm water runoff evaluated for the National Urban Runoff Program at concentrations ranging from 7 to 39 pg/L (Cole et al., 1984). 

Municipal landfill leachates Organic compounds BTEX propyl benzene derivatives, bicyclic compounds, naphthalenes, chlorinated aliphatic compounds, phenols, pesticides, and phthalates V. fischeri Biotox ) Selenastrum capricomutum (conventional assay) Salmonella typhimurium (UmuC)... 

PVC has been under scrutiny in landfill immersion due to perceptions about the leaching of additives, in particular, heavy metals and phthalates (282). A study has shown that no degradation of the PVC occurred (252). However, the viewpoint that PVC materials should be buried in landfill in preference to being recycled is not generally accepted (422). 

The behaviour of poly(vinyl chloride) products in landfill sites longterm and their leachate products and gas evolution have been monitored. Over the period of the study no degradation of the poly(vinyl chloride) was observed. The leachate analysis determined that there was no significant contribution to the level of heavy metals in landfills, and that the presence of phthalates and organotin compounds presented no risk to the aquatic environment. 14 refs. 

The final use of chemical products can result in the release of hazardous substances affecting man and the environment. Chemicals can be released from products used in the indoor environment, released to the atmosphere when a product is used outside, and released to groundwater if the chemicals leach out of a product in a landfill. Data are extremely limited on how many chemical products there are on the market today, on their chemical content, and on whether - and how - they may be releasing hazardous substances to the environment. Recent studies have shown that, in some cases, the majority of emissions released during the entire lifecycle occur during the service life of the product, rather than during production. A study conducted by TNO estimated that over 75 percent of total emissions to the environment from phthalates in plastics, brominated flame retardants in plastics, and zinc from tires occurred during the service life (TNO, 2001). 

Fig. 3 Postulated degradation pathway of phthalates in waste deposit landfills. = not identified in the examined seepage water samples.

In most cases, the extracts obtained after LLE or SPE were analyzed without including a cleanup step. Laborious cleanup steps are necessary when analysis is performed by GC-EID or GC-ECD, but nowadays the most common determination technique is GC-MSD and, due to its selectivity, there is no need for a cleanup step for surface water samples. So, the cleanup step is not part of the routine methods for phthalate water analysis. It is only necessary if high background levels or high amounts of polar substances are found in the samples, as could be the case in extracts from landfill leachates of wastewaters.Cleanup is generally performed using a polar sorbent, such as activated alumina or florisil. Lopez-Avila et al. ° have compared florisil and alumina columns to perform the cleanup step. Alumina was preferred over florisil mainly because it allows recovery of all target compounds in the elution step, while three of the 16 phthalates included in the study could not be recovered with florisil clean up. 

DISPOSAL AND STORAGE METHODS can dilute, neutralize, or precipitate out phthalate salts for recovery dissolve in flammable solvent, such as alcohol, and atomize in suitable combustion chamber equipped with afterburner and scrubber liquid may be absorbed in dry earth, sand, or vermiculite, and placed in a sanitary landfill store in a cool, dry location separate from acids, strong oxidizers, alkalies, reducing agents, and moisture. 

Finally, since di- -butyl phthalate is found in many household products, it may ultimately be disposed of into municipal landfills (Cadogan and Howick 1996). 

Di- -butyl phthalate may also be released into surface waters from industrial sources (Sheldon and Hites 1979), municipal waste water (Stubin et al. 1996), and leachate from sanitary landfills (EPA 1990a Kimnan et al. 1995). Di- -butyl phthalate has also been reportedly released to groundwater from a hazardous waste site (Eckel et al. 1993). 

No other release of di- -butyl phthalate to soils has been reported however, di- -butyl phthalate has been reported in leachate from sanitary landfills (EPA 1990a Kinman et al. 1995) and in groundwater from a... 

European household waste and that it leaches from that waste to percolating water. The extent to which this occurs in a landfill is unclear as is whether or not the dissolved di- -butyl phthalate leaches to groundwater after leaving landfills. 

The most commonly found organic contaminant in landfills and hazardous waste sites has proven to be the homologous series of aliphatic esters of phthalic acid. This author has found phthalate esters in almost every Superfund waste site sample that he personally analyzed during the period 1986 90 while employed in an environmental testing laboratory in New York. 

Di-n-butyl phthalate 0.45 to2.38 pg/L Near landfill, sewage contaminated groundwater (USA) (5)... 

The rate at which these additives leach from plastics is dependent on the pore size of the polymer matrix. Pore sizes vary according to the polymer, the properties and size of the additive and environmental conditions. Phthalates are emollients, additives used to soften plastics by reducing the affinity between the molecular chains within the synthetic polymer matrix, and can constitute up to 50% hy weight in poly(vinyl chloride), (PVC). Similarly, bisphenol A (BPA) is a polycarbonate additive that has been widely used in food and beverage containers. Neither of these additives are persistent, however, their instability within plastic products facilitates their leaching with a loss of material performance. Furthermore, vom Saal and Myers have reported the high prevalence of both BPA and phthalates in aquatic environments, particularly in landfill leachates. ... 

Plastics, such as polyethylene, polypropylene, and polyethylene tere-phthalate, are synthetic polymers that are produced in very large amounts (see Chapters 6 and 8). A material that can be consumed by microorganisms and converted to compounds found in nature is called biodegradable. Plastics for all practical purposes are nonbiodegradable. When introduced in the ecosystem as industrial waste, they have adverse consequences. Therefore, for disposal of these polymers, methods such as recycling, incinerations, and burying in landfill are resorted to. 

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