National Estimate of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substance (PFAS) Release to U.S. Municipal Landfill Leachate

Abstract

Landfills are the final stage in the life cycle of many products containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) and their presence has been reported in landfill leachate. The concentrations of 70 PFASs in 95 samples of leachate were measured in a survey of U.S. landfills of varying climates and waste ages. National release of PFASs was estimated by coupling measured concentrations for the 19 PFASs where more than 50% of samples had quantifiable concentrations, with climate-specific estimates of annual leachate volumes. For 2013, the total volume of leachate generated in the U.S. was estimated to be 61.1 million m, with 79% of this volume coming from landfills in wet climates (>75 cm/yr precipitation) that contain 47% of U.S. solid waste. The mass of measured PFASs from U.S. landfill leachate to wastewater treatment plants was estimated to be between 563 and 638 kg for 2013. In the majority of landfill leachate samples, 5:3 fluorotelomer carboxylic acid (FTCA) was dominant and variations in concentrations with waste age affected total estimated mass. There were six PFASs that demonstrated significantly higher concentrations in leachate from younger waste compared to older waste and six PFAS demonstrated significant variation with climate.

Recently Detected Drinking Water Contaminants: GenX and Other Per‐ and Polyfluoroalkyl Ether Acids

“…In the case of landfilling, the PFAS desorption potential from spent GAC needs to be studied. Landfill leachate is one vector through which PFASs are reintroduced into the environment (e.g., Lang et al ) if landfill leachate is shipped to wastewater treatment plants or is aerosolized. Incineration of spent GAC would have to be conducted at temperatures that are sufficiently high to mineralize PFASs.…”

Leachate emissions of short- and long-chain per- and polyfluoralkyl substances (PFASs) from various Norwegian landfills

“…In Table 2, leachate concentrations from the literature are compiled, in which it was possible for us to calculate the shortchain and long-chain concentrations and ratios in a manner similar to this study, because similar PFASs were analysed and the raw data was available. General caveats however with such comparisons are that the analysis methods can differ, PFASs analysed can differ, as can the type of leachate sampled (raw, diluted, treated), as indicated in Table 2, thus preventing exact comparisons, Eggen et al 19 using non-target analysis ( Table 2) reported relatively high X 16 PFAS concentrations of 6123 ng L À1 for raw leachate in Norwegian landlls sampled in 2006 (which in comparison is higher than all landlls in this study except landll VI), and a short-to long-chain ratio of 0.16; thus, indicating that short-chain PFASs have become more dominant in 1972 | Environ. Sci.…”

“…To extrapolate these results to the national level, which introduces new uncertainties, a previous report on leachate emissions in Norway concluded that a total volume of up to 1.0 Â 10 7 m 3 is emitted from Norwegian landlls, with 55% of emissions being sent to wastewater treatment plants (WTP) and 45% to the environment. 30 Based on the mean concentrations provided in Table 1 National estimates have also been presented for other countries, such as China, 22 Germany, 17 and the U.S. 16 These were derived by multiplying average emission rates for landlls included in their study by the number of landlls in the country, rather than based on leachate volumes as here. (Table S2 †) and the concentrations in Table 1) of long-chain and short-chain perfluorinated sulfonates (PFSAs) and perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids (PFCAs) for the Norwegian landfills in this study (Table S7 † Compared to total per capita emission factors from all sources of PFAS, not just landlls, based on river and water treatment plant data in the literature, the contributions of landlls are relatively low.…”

“…Landll leachate from municipal solid waste are potential emission hotspots for PFASs, [13][14][15][16] though concentrations vary widely. [13][14][15]17,18 There are few available data on PFAS occurrence in Norwegian landll leachates; 19,20 though the rst available data, comprising data from ten landlls from 2003-2007 based on non-target screening, indicated short-chain PFASs were infrequently detected (or analysed for (ref.…”

Sorptive remediation of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) using mixed mineral and graphene/carbon-based materials

“…In addition to accepting PFAS-contaminated soils, landfills receive several other PFAScontaining commercial products that are discarded at the end of their functional life (Benskin et al 2012). As a result, unlined landfills can act as a source of PFAS-release to groundwater (Lang et al 2017). The resistance of FeG-and RemB-sorbed PFOA to desorption in such conditions suggests that the risk of diffusive transport of PFOA from landfills through leachates into the groundwater will be minimised, which makes these adsorbents highly favourable.…”