Occurrence and Treatment of Micropollutants in Landfill Leachate

Micropollutants have emerged as a new challenge to the scientific community over the past decade. This chapter discusses the occurrence of various micropollutants in landfill leachate. Phthalic acid esters (PAEs) are one of the most investigated compounds in landfill leachate and are therefore given special focus in this chapter. The potential treatment options for these micropollutants are discussed with relevance to the estrogenicity potential of micropollutants. The potential of leaching of micropollutants from landfill sites is discussed to emphasize on the requirements of appropriate liners to avoid such exposure to the surrounding environment. Biological treatment in particular membrane bioreactors have been successfully used to remove some of the micropollutants. Advanced oxidation processes such Fenton and photo-Fenton have limited application reported in literature whereas other physic-chemical processes such as coagulation and adsorption have been demonstrated to be effective in the removal of micropollutants.