Leachates from landfill sites are the main origin of water pollution because of continuous exposure and flow of landfills to the water logging system, generates aqueous leachates which contaminate ground and surface water reservoirs. Two samples of landfill leachate from Rovinj landfill site were collected, analyzed and treated with powdered activated carbon in order to decrease concentration of toxic compounds. The optimum purification conditions were as follows: contact time: 20 minutes ; mass of adsorbent 2.5 g per 100 mL of leachate ; pH =8. All parameters in the purified water were significantly lower compared to initial concentrations and maximum allowed values for wastewater suitable for discharge directly into the environment. Nevertheless, due to the complex nature of the leachates and their purified samples, chemical analysis alone is not sufficient for assessing their potential genotoxicity. In this work two test systems were used to evaluate cytotoxicity and genotoxicity of leachates and purified water. In order to determine cytotoxic and mutagenic potential of leachates, two strains of Salmonella typhimurium TA98 and TA100 were used. The genotoxicity of leachates and purified samples was evaluated on human cervical carcinoma cell line, during different incubation period using alkaline comet assay and lipid peroxidation assay. The leachates produced significant dose-dependent and time-dependent increases in DNA damage and lipid peroxidation induction and suggest that the exposure of human populations to leachates may lead to adverse health effects. Purified samples caused insignificant increase in DNA damage and lipid peroxidation only after prolonged exposure of the cells to purified waters, suggesting that purification of landfill leachates with activated carbon is a optimal method for genotoxic compounds removal prior to their release into environment.

Geoznanosti,Biotehnologija