Landfill treatment plants increasing ‘forever chemicals’ risk
A treatment process to clean up liquid waste from landfills so it is safe to go into waterways is increasing the quantities of harmful ‘forever chemicals’, new research shows.
The study shows that treatment of these forever chemicals - which do not breakdown in the environment - actually converts them into more harmful chemicals.
This process sees per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) converted into perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), both of which are banned and considered more of a risk than the PFAS they were converted from.
The analysis, published in the journal Frontiers in Environmental Science, compared data from 17 landfill sites from across the UK and found that the process of treating the liquid waste – known as ‘leachate’ – is increasing the concentrations of two banned chemicals, PFOS and PFOA, as well as many other PFAS chemicals, sometimes by as much as 1335%.
Once a landfill operator has treated the leachate, they are then permitted to discharge it either directly to rivers or streams or to the sewer.
The report, authored by Dr David Megson, Reader in Chemistry and Environmental Forensics at Manchester Metropolitan University and Pippa Neill, journalist at the ENDS Report, described the findings as a significant concern and highlighted an urgent need for further investigation and to upgrade treatment works.
The study explains that the increase in these forever chemicals is “most likely as a result of precursor transformation during the treatment process”. While this process has been observed elsewhere in the world, the findings represent the highest ever reported relative increase of PFOS. The issue has never before been investigated in the UK.
Dr Megson, Reader in Chemistry and Environmental Forensics at Manchester Metropolitan University, said: “This research highlights the need for improved monitoring of PFAS at waste treatment sites.
“Our research indicates that instead of removing the banned chemicals PFOS and PFOA our treatments plants are actually creating them. They are likely being formed from transformation of other PFAS within a chemical soup. Our current understanding of what is going on in the UK at these sites and the wider environment is poor.
“The majority of our monitoring data only looks at a few specific PFAS, so we are only getting a tiny snapshot of what is actually out there and what impact it may be having.”
Lead author of the study, Pippa Neill, said: “It is astonishing that a process intended to clean landfill waste is actually increasing the level of toxic chemicals.
“We know that these chemicals are linked to cancer and many other harmful human health and environmental impacts, and with potentially hundreds of landfill operators legally allowed to discharge their treated leachate into the environment, this study highlights the urgent need for further research into more appropriate technologies to clean and treat this waste so it can be disposed of properly.”
The authors called for further research to enable the development and use of the most appropriate technologies for leachate treatment, as well as the development of monitoring programmes and policies.
