The human impact on the natural environment: Elemental geochemistry of a msw landfill as a tool to trace changes in ecosystem processes

In Italy landfills are the most common method of organized solid waste disposal as it is simplest and cheapest one. About 60% of total waste produced is disposed in landfills. Landfills continue to serve a key function in the waste management system in the less developed countries, although the general trend is to minimize the use of them by new policies of reducing, reusing, recycling, and the development of technologies for composting and residues incineration. The aim of this study is to assess the impact of a MSW on the environment using some simple geochemical tools as tracer of anthropogenic contamination in the environments surrounding a municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill. The landfill studied here is located in central Italy and it has been working since 1995. It's divided in 3 lots, and it has a capacity more than 2,000,000 cubic meters. The geology of the area is characterized by a Plio-Pleistocene substrate of marine origin formed at the base by clayey-sandy deposits that in the upper part of the formation to pass sands and conglomerates. The oldest deposits are represented by grayblue clays. The aim of this study is to identify the cause(s) of changes in downgrading groundwater quality. To assess the possible impact of the landfill on the environment the groundwater chemical composition (physicochemical parameters, major constituents and trace elements) of 13 wells was taken into account. The wells are located hydraulically downgradient of the site. The results are compared to both background and baseline groundwater quality. The aim of this study is to assess the impact of a MSW on the environment using some simple geochemical tools as tracer of anthropogenic contamination.