Toxicity characteristic leaching procedure

About: Toxicity characteristic leaching procedure is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 1021 publications have been published within this topic receiving 20073 citations.

Chemistry and Phytotoxicity of Soil Trace Elements from Repeated Sewage Sludge Applications

Abstract: Municipal sewage sludges, or biosolids, can be applied to croplands to supply and recycle nutrients and organic C. Trace elements in sludges, however, may be of environmental concern. This study examines the long-term consequences to crops and soil when loading phytotoxic levels of one or more trace elements to cropland. Municipal sewage sludges containing trace elements, including high concentrations of Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb, Ni, and Zn, were applied to cropland from 1977 to 1986 at three rates plus an untreated control. Plant and soil samples were collected between 1985 and 1990. These results report on yield and metal uptake of corn (Zea mays L.), sorghum-sudangrass (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench x S. sudanese P. Stapf.), and soybean (Glycine max L.). Yields of all crops were reduced on one or more sludge treatments because of phytotoxic concentrations of soil trace elements, probably Zn and Ni. Phytotoxicity has continued since the last sludge application. Chemical fractionation of surface soils was performed using a sequential extraction technique and trace elements were measured in each of eight fractions. Cadmium, Ni, and Zn occupied soil fractions that were potentially available for plant uptake. Copper and Cr loadings increased the environmental availability of these two elements to a smaller extent. Loadings of Pb to the levels seen in this study did not appear to significantly increase its environmental availability. The Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP) and guidelines used to characterize hazardous wastes were inappropriate to use when testing soils for potential phytotoxic concentrations of trace elements or uptake of these elements into the food chain.

Leaching of lead from computer printed wire boards and cathode ray tubes by municipal solid waste landfill leachates.

Abstract: The proper management of discarded electronic devices (E-waste) is an important issue for solid waste professionals because of the magnitude of the waste stream and because these devices often contain a variety of toxic metals (e.g., lead). While recycling of E-waste is developing, much of this waste stream is disposed in landfills. Leaching tests are frequently used to characterize the potential of a solid waste to leach when disposed in a landfill. In the United States, the Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP) is used to determine whether a solid waste is a hazardous waste by the toxicity characteristic. The TCLP is designed to simulate worse-case leaching in a landfill environment where the waste is co-disposed with municipal solid waste (MSW). While the TCLP is a required analysis from a regulatory perspective, the leachate concentrations measured may not accurately reflect the concentrations observed under typical landfill conditions. Another method that can be performed to assess the degree a pollutant might leach from a waste in a landfill is to use actual landfill leachate as the leaching solution. In this study, two lead-containing components found in electronic devices (printed wire boards from computers and cathode ray tubes from computers and televisions) were leached using the TCLP and leachates from 11 Florida landfills. California's Waste Extraction Test (WET) and the Synthetic Precipitation Leaching Procedure were also performed. The results indicated that the extractions using MSW landfill leachates resulted in lower lead concentrations than those by the TCLP. The pH of the leaching solution and the ability of the organic acids in the TCLP and WET to complex with the lead are factors that regulate the amount of lead leached.