Identification of organic compounds in municipal landfill leachates

Forty-five organic compounds have been identified in leachates from a Swedish municipal landfill. The samples were taken from the interior of the landfill to minimize alterations caused by contact with the surroundings and were identified and quantified by gas chromatography combined with mass spectrometry. Two analytical procedures were used, one for priority pollutants, the other for a wider range of phenolic and neutral compounds and acids. Analyses of the leachates for water quality parameters indicated that the part of the landfill which was sampled had reached an anaerobic stage in which methane was being produced. Possible origins for most of the compounds identified have been suggested.