Carcinogenic Micro-Pollutants Emission from Municipal Waste Landfill

Leachate generated from any solid waste landfill is widely considered as a serious concern and threat to the surface water particularly to the rivers. The leachate may contain several carcinogenic micropollutants such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) which are harmful to the aquatic life as well as to the community. This study is carried out to investigate the water quality as well as to detect the presence of carcinogenic micropollutants along a river in Peninsular Malaysia. Water quality parameters were recorded to monitor the water quality index (WQI) of the river. in order to identify the presence of carcinogenic micropollutants, a liquid-liquid extraction method was used with the aid of dichloromethane (DCM) as a solvent. Results revealed that the water quality of the river has not yet reached to a “bad” status. The 16 priority PAHs are found to be present in most of the sampling points which can be harmful to consumers. In terms of EDCs, none of the EDCs was detected in any of the samples analysed in the present study.