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Effect-directed investigation and interactive effect of organic toxicants in landfill leachates combining Microtox test with RP-HPLC fractionation and GC/MS analysis

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Abstract

Landfill leachates contain a large amount of unknown harmful compounds derived from domestic and industrial sources. A toxicity effect-directed approach was used to identify biologically active compounds in three landfill leachate samples (S1–S3) by combining the Microtox test with reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) fractionation and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) analysis. Organic toxicants were recovered from coarse fractions only in S1 and in S2. Fine fractionation exhibited a somewhat different toxicity pattern in S1 and S2. GC/MS analysis positively identified Bisphenol A (BPA) and 4-t-butylphenol (4-t-BP) in both samples, N-ethyltoluenesulfoneamide (NETSA) was detected only in S1. However, their concentrations were not high enough to be responsible for the observed toxicity in original samples. A synergistic effect among detected organic compounds (BPA, NETSA, and 4-t-BP) was demonstrated. Each compound present at 1/7 of its individual EC50, might lead to undesirable mixture toxicity, which indicated that interactive effects may, to a certain extent, play a role in landfill leachates with complex matrices. The results from further hydrophobicity analysis and estrogen receptor (ER) competitive binding assays of fraction 13 of both samples gave evidence that some possible toxicants that failed to be identified by GC/MS might be endocrine disrupting chemical(s) (EDC) with a log K ow range of 3.5–3.7 in both samples.

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Acknowledgements

This work was jointly supported by “21st Century COE Program of Education Ministry of Japan: Strategic Solid Waste Management for a Sustainable Society” and by “The Scientific Research Foundation for the Returned Overseas Chinese Scholars, State Education Ministry”.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Liaoning Key Laboratory of Physical Geography and Geomatics, Liaoning Normal University, Dalian, 116029, China

    Lei Lei

  2. Laboratory of Ecological Reaction for Chemical Stress, Research Institute for Bioresources, Okayama University, Kurashiki, 2-20-1 Chuo, Kurashiki, 710-0046, Japan

    Lei Lei & Isao Aoyama

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  1. Lei Lei
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  2. Isao Aoyama
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Lei, L., Aoyama, I. Effect-directed investigation and interactive effect of organic toxicants in landfill leachates combining Microtox test with RP-HPLC fractionation and GC/MS analysis. Ecotoxicology 19, 1268–1276 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10646-010-0511-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10646-010-0511-2

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