engleski

Quality of Piškornica landfill wastewater prior to and following purification

The present study evaluates the quality of leachate from an old sanitary landfill Piškornica, (Koprivnica, Croatia) prior to and following chemical and electrochemical treatments. Toxic and genotoxic effects of the leachate were observed on two test organisms, Lemna minor and Chlorella vulgaris Beij., by using Lemna, Chlorella and comet tests. Photosynthetic pigments, malondialdehyde (indicates damage to membrane lipids) and antioxidant enzymes catalase and peroxidase were evaluated as indicators of toxicity in duckweed following a week of exposure. When exposed to landfill leachate, growth rate and photosynthetic pigments content in duckweed decreased while enzyme activity, malondialdehyde content and DNA damage increased. The morphology and morphometric parameters were analyzed in algae of Chlorella genus after 3- and 14-day period of cultivation. Area of cells and chloroplasts and diameter of C.vulgaris cells increased in response to landfill leachate. Almost all parameters measured in plants and algae cultivated on treated leachate samples were similar to control, suggesting that both purification methods had been highly efficient in removal of toxic substances present in landfill leachate.

toxicity; water treatment; Lemna minor; Chlorella; biochemical indicators

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