CFCs as transport tracers of landfill emissions in groundwater

摘要

Emissions from abandoned waste disposal sites into groundwater are difficult to trace further downstream because of their complexity. Typical tracers, for example, like chloride, boron and sulphate are likely to be influenced by several factors like saline waters, emissions from seepage pits and leaky sewers. These types of components are therefore not suitable to characterise groundwater contamination caused by abandoned waste disposal sites; they will thus not be further discussed in this paper. However, due to their special geochemical properties like negligible absorption and degradation rates, chlorinated fluorocarbons, especially difluoro-dichloromethane (F12), which are frequently emitted from abandoned waste disposal sites, are particularly suitable for the detection of maximum contaminant emissions to groundwater. These elements are crucial for the assessment of groundwater contamination and the employment of natural attenuation as a remediation measure.