Estrogenic activity of fractionate landfill leachate.

Dissolved organic matter (DOM) in leachate samples collected at Laogang Sanitary Landfill in Shanghai, China were fractionated using size exclusion chromatography and were characterized using estrogen receptor-alpha competitor screening assay as toxicity activity index. The estrogen activity of leachate was determined mainly by the hydrophobic acid DOM with moderate MW (3000-14,000 Da) and low MW (<630 Da) and with high aromaticity and fluorophores of possibly pyrenyl characteristics. Landfilling for up to seven years or oxic storage for one month degraded a few of these estrogens. Aerobic SBR treatments effectively degraded the hydrophobic estrogens, but rarely degraded the hydrophilic estrogens.