Impact of volatile organic compounds in large municipal solid waste landfills on regional environment

Abstract

Landfill disposal is a major approach of disposing municipal solid waste (MSW) in China. In order to explore the impact of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) generated by landfill on the air quality of regional environment, Jiangcungou landfill in Xi'an and its surrounding area were taken as a research object to analyze the spatial distribution and seasonal variation patterns of non-methane hydrocarbon (NMHC) and VOCs components through seasonal sampling of regional NMHC concentration and VOCs concentration (116 species). CALPUFF model was adopted to analyze the regional dispersion characteristics of NMHC on landfill. In addition, propylene equivalent concentration (PEC) and maximum incremental reactivity (MIR) methods were used to estimate O₃ formation potential of the landfill, while fraction aerosol coefficient (FAC) and SOA potential (SOAP) methods were used to estimate SOA formation potential of the landfill. It was indicated that, the component with the highest concentration of VOCs on the working surface and the surrounding area of landfill was p + m-xylene (41.0 μg/m³) and halohydrocarbon (111.2 μg/m³-156.3 μg/m³), respectively. The component with the greatest impact on the surrounding air was acetone, which accounts for 75 %-87 % of the corresponding substance concentration on the landfill. In summer, the surrounding area was affected most by NMHC from landfill, whose emissions contributed 9.5 mg/m³ to the surrounding area. The component making the largest contribution to O₃ formation was p + m-xylene (8 %-24 %), while ethylbenzene was the component making the largest contribution to SOA formation (20 %-24 %).

Keywords: Air pollution; Formation potentials; Landfill; Municipal solid waste (MSW); Volatile organic compounds (VOCs).