Kw. Brown et al., FATE OF VOLATILE ORGANIC-COMPOUNDS AND PESTICIDES IN COMPOSTED MUNICIPAL SOLID-WASTE, Compost science & utilization, 5(4), 1997, pp. 6-14
Composting of municipal solid waste (MSW) has many advantages includin
g volume reduction, reduced atmospheric emissions of methane from land
fills, and the potential for beneficial use of the end product. Inform
ation about the fate of volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) which are co
mmonly present in MSW is needed to protect the environment from undesi
rable emissions. To achieve this goal, the present study was undertake
n to evaluate the fate of four VOCs (benzene, carbon tetrachloride, di
chlorobenzene, and xylene) and two pesticides (Captan and Lindane) add
ed to simulated MSW. Volatile organic chemicals were added at three co
ncentrations while pesticides were tested at a single concentration. A
ll of the treatments were replicated three times and composted in 200
L aerated static pile composters. The composters were specially equipp
ed with pumps and flow meters to aerate the feedstock at 1.12-1.68 m(3
)/hr, sorption filters to collect volatile organic chemicals from the
exiting air stream, and leachate collection vessels. The feedstock was
selected to be representative of MSW after the majority of recyclable
metal and glass had been removed and was spiked with organic chemical
s known to commonly occur in MSW. The results showed that the majority
of VOCs present in the feedstock were lost via volatilization in the
initial 48 hours of composting. Concentrations of VOCs were below dete
ction limits after one week of composting in both the leachate and com
post. Thus, while aerated pile composting is effective in removing VOC
s from the feedstock, the exiting air stream will need to he monitored
for approximately one week and possibly treated to meet environmental
quality standards. Aerobic composting reduced the initial concentrati
ons of 275 mg/kg each of Captan and Lindane to final concentrations of
53.8 and 158.9 mg/kg, respectively, after five weeks of composting. T
his corresponded to half Lives of 1.5 and four weeks during composting
for Captan and Lindane respectively. All concentrations of both pesti
cides were below detection limits in all samples of air, condensate an
d leachate, indicating that none of the pesticides were volatilized an
d all were retained by the MSW until they biodegraded.