Determination of Organic Contaminants in Landfill Leachates: A Review

Leachates derived from landfills constitute a potential risk of groundwater pollution because a variety of contaminants can be released by leaking from the contention system. Therefore, the leachate composition is of interest of their appropriate management. Although the leachate characterisation is usually carried out by global parameters (i.e. DOC, BOD, COD, AOX, etc), its characterisation at molecular level is of increasing interest and will be reviewed in the present article. Sample handling and determination techniques for a variety of organic contaminants is discussed and pitfalls as well as limitations of each analytical technique will be highlighted.