Electrochemical removal of Bisphenol A from landfill leachate under Nordic climate conditions

Bisphenol A (BPA) toxicity assessment and insights into current remediation strategies

Bisphenol A (BPA) raises concerns among the scientific community as it is one of the most widely used compounds in industrial processes and a component of polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins. In this review, we discuss the mechanism of BPA toxicity in food-grade plastics. Owing to its proliferation in the aqueous environment, we delved into the performance of various biological, physical, and chemical techniques for its remediation. Detailed mechanistic insights into these removal processes are provided. The toxic effects of BPA unravel as changes at the cellular level in the brain, which can result in learning difficulties, increased aggressiveness, hyperactivity, endocrine disorders, reduced fertility, and increased risk of dependence on illicit substances. Bacterial decomposition of BPA leads to new intermediates and products with lower toxicity. Processes such as membrane filtration, adsorption, coagulation, ozonation, and photocatalysis have also been shown to be efficient in aqueous-phase degradation. The breakdown mechanism of these processes is also discussed. The review demonstrates that high removal efficiency is usually achieved at the expense of high throughput. For the scalable application of BPA degradation technologies, removal efficiency needs to remain high at high throughput. We propose the need for process intensification using an integrated combination of these processes, which can solve multiple associated performance challenges.

Electrochemical oxidation of pretreated landfill leachate nanofiltration concentrate in terms of pollutants removal and formation of by-products

This study compares the efficiencies of active (Ti/TiO₂-RuO₂-IrO₂ (TIR)) and inactive (Ni/Boron Doped Diamond (BDD)) anodes in terms of pollutant treatment and by-product formation in pretreated (chemical coagulation) landfill leachate nanofiltration membrane concentrate (PLNC). PLNC has high chemical oxygen demand (COD:4900 mg/L), total organic carbon (TOC: 1874 mg/L), total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN: 520 mg/L), ammonium nitrogen (NH₃-N: 21.35 mg/L), chloride (5700 mg/L) and sulfate (9000 mg/L - due to coagulant type). The parameters of COD, TOC, NH₃-N, TKN, free and combined chlorine species, halogenated organic compounds (HOCs), adsorbable organic halogens (AOX), and nitrate at different current density (J: 111-555 A/m²) and initial pH (pH_i:3.5-7) were compared for both anodes. The removal efficiencies at the optimum conditions (pH_i 5.5, 333 A/m² and 8 h) were obtained as 86.4% COD, 77.4% TOC, 93.4% TKN, 94.4% NH₃-N with BDD and 34.3% COD, 27.3% TOC, 93.7% TKN, 97.4% NH₃-N with TIR. According to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) results obtained under optimum conditions, haloalkane/alkene, halonitroalkane, halonitrile, haloketone, haloalcohols, haloacids, haloaldehydes, haloamines/amides on both electrodes were detected as species of HOCs. In addition, the highest nitrate concentration was observed at the TIR anode, while the highest AOX concentration was observed at the BDD anode.

Electrochemical oxidation of landfill leachate using boron-doped diamond anodes: pollution degradation rate, energy efficiency and toxicity assessment

Electrochemical oxidation (EO), due to high efficiency and small carbon footprint, is regarded as an attractive option for on-site treatment of highly contaminated wastewater. This work shows the effectiveness of EO using three boron-doped diamond electrodes (BDDs) in sustainable management of landfill leachate (LL). The effect of the applied current density (25-100 mA cm^-2) and boron doping concentration (B/C ratio: 500 ppm, 10,000 ppm and 15,000 ppm) on the performance of EO was investigated. It was found that, of the electrodes used, the one most effective at COD, BOD₂₀ and ammonia removal (97.1%, 98.8% and 62%, respectively) was the electrode with the lowest boron doping. Then, to better elucidate the ecological role of LLs, before and after EO, cultivation of faecal bacteria and microscopic analysis of total (prokaryotic) cell number, together with ecotoxicity assay (Daphnia magna, Thamnocephalus platyurus and Artemia salina) were combined for the two better-performing electrodes. The EO process was very effective at bacterial cell inactivation using each of the two anodes, even within 2 h of contact time. In a complex matrix of LLs, this is probably a combined effect of electrogenerated oxidants (hydroxyl radicals, active chlorine and sulphate radicals), which may penetrate into the bacterial cells and/or react with cellular components. The toxicity of EO-treated LLs proved to be lower than that of raw ones. Since toxicity drops with increased boron doping, it is believed that appropriate electrolysis parameters can diminish the toxicity effect without compromising the nutrient-removal and disinfection capability, although salinity of LLs and related multistep-oxidation pathways needs to be further elucidated.

Occurrence of organic micropollutants in municipal landfill leachate and its effective treatment by advanced oxidation processes

Landfilling is the most prominently adopted disposal technique for managing municipal solid waste across the globe. However, the main drawback associated with this method is the generation of leachate from the landfill site. Leachate, a highly concentrated liquid consisting of both organic and inorganic components arises environmental issues as it contaminates the nearby aquifers. Landfill leachate treatment by conventional methods is not preferred as the treatment methods are not much effective to remove these pollutants. Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) based on both hydroxyl and sulfate radicals could be a promising method to remove the micropollutants completely or convert them to non-toxic compounds. The current review focuses on the occurrence of micropollutants in landfill leachate, their detection methods and removal from landfill leachate using AOPs. Pharmaceuticals and personal care products occur in the range of 10^-1 to more than 100 μg L^-1 whereas phthalates were found below the detectable limit to 384 μg L^-1, pesticides in the order of 10^-1 μg L^-1 and polyaromatic hydrocarbons occur in concentration from 10^-2 to 114.7 μg L^-1. Solid-phase extraction is the most preferred method for extracting micropollutants from leachate and liquid chromatography (LC) - mass spectrophotometer (MS) for detecting the micropollutants. Limited studies have been focused on AOPs as a potential method for the degradation of micropollutants in landfill leachate. The potential of Fenton based techniques, electrochemical AOPs and ozonation are investigated for the removal of micropollutants from leachate whereas the applicability of photocatalysis for the removal of a wide variety of micropollutants from leachate needs in-depth studies.

Kinetics of the Organic Compounds and Ammonium Nitrogen Electrochemical Oxidation in Landfill Leachates at Boron-Doped Diamond Anodes

Electrochemical oxidation (EO) of organic compounds and ammonium in the complex matrix of landfill leachates (LLs) was investigated using three different boron-doped diamond electrodes produced on silicon substrate (BDD/Si)(levels of boron doping [B]/[C] = 500, 10,000, and 15,000 ppm—0.5 k; 10 k, and 15 k, respectively) during 8-h tests. The LLs were collected from an old landfill in the Pomerania region (Northern Poland) and were characterized by a high concentration of N-NH₄⁺ (2069 ± 103 mg·L⁻¹), chemical oxygen demand (COD) (3608 ± 123 mg·L⁻¹), high salinity (2690 ± 70 mg Cl⁻·L⁻¹, 1353 ± 70 mg SO₄²⁻·L⁻¹), and poor biodegradability. The experiments revealed that electrochemical oxidation of LLs using BDD 0.5 k and current density (j) = 100 mA·cm⁻² was the most effective amongst those tested (C_8h/C₀: COD = 0.09 ± 0.14 mg·L⁻¹, N-NH₄⁺ = 0.39 ± 0.05 mg·L⁻¹). COD removal fits the model of pseudo-first-order reactions and N-NH₄⁺ removal in most cases follows second-order kinetics. The double increase in biodegradability index—to 0.22 ± 0.05 (BDD 0.5 k, j = 50 mA·cm⁻²) shows the potential application of EO prior biological treatment. Despite EO still being an energy consuming process, optimum conditions (COD removal > 70%) might be achieved after 4 h of treatment with an energy consumption of 200 kW·m⁻³ (BDD 0.5 k, j = 100 mA·cm⁻²).