Volatile Organic Compounds as Indicators of Municipal Solid Waste Leachate Contamination

Due to their apparent mobility in many soil types and the analytical sensitivity of tests used for their detection, volatile organic compounds (VOC) may prove to be useful indicators of municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill leachate contamination. Data were collected from the analysis of leachates and from monitoring wells at sites where ground water was contaminated by MSW landfill leachates. Results of the leachate analyses show some volatiles to be ubiquitous in leachates. Commonly detected compounds include the priority pollutants toluene; methylene chloride ; 1,1,2-trichloroethylene; 1,1-dichloroethane; ethylbenzene; benzene and trans-1,1-dichloroethylene. The non-priority pollutant parameters acetone, 2-propanol and xylene were also common in leachate.