Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
in.landill.leachate,.including.dioctyl.phthalate.(DOP),.diisobutyl.phthalate.
(DIBP),.and.diisopentyl.phthalate.(DIPP).
In. other. reports. by. Schwarzbauer. et. al.. (2002). and. Jonsson. et. al.. (2003),.
several.derivatives.of.PAEs.degradation.were.identiied.in.the.seepage.and.
leakage. water. from. landills. (Jonsson. et. al.. 2003).. Several. commonly. used.
PAEs.and.their.metabolites.were.detected.in.a.landill.deposit.in.Germany,.
including. DIBP,. DBP,. DEHP,. and. their. monophthalate. ester. as. well. as.
phthalic.acid,.methylisophthalic.acid,.isophthalic.acid,.and.terephthalic.acid.
(Schwarzbauer.et.al..2002)..Similarly,.Jonsson.et.al..(2003).also.observed.that.
in.landills.in.Sweden,.Denmark,.and.Italy,.different.phthalates.were.found.
and.recognized.as.DMP,.DEP,.DBP,.DEHP,.BBP,.their.monophthalic.acid,.and.
phthalic.acid..Among.these.organic.chemicals,.phthalic.acid.(PA).was.found.
at. the. highest. concentration. and. almost. appeared. in. all. of. these. landills..
Such.high.levels.of.PA.in.the.landill.implied.that.biodegradation.by.micro-
organisms.had.transformed.esters.to.PA.but.further.degradation.of.PA.was.
not.optimized,.resulting.in.high.concentration.of.this.intermediate..This.is.
an. interesting. fact. in. the. degradation. of. PAEs. because. most. of. the. previ-
ous. investigations. had. not. shown. the. degradative. pathway. in. step. and. by.
pure.culture.of.microorganisms..Only.by.pure.culture.can.the.cooperation.
between. bacteria. be. observed,. such. as. those. published. in. our. laboratory.
(Wang.et.al..2003).
In. the. studies. described. earlier,. almost. all. landills. have. been. detected.
with.DEHP,.DEP,.and.BBP.at.noticeable.levels..These.three.PAEs.have.very.
wide. applications. in. various. industrial. manufactures,. including. pharma-
ceuticals,.pesticides,.textile,.leather.preservatives,.plasticizers,.and.even.food.
packaging.(Öman.and.Hynning.1993)..These.daily.commodities.are.essen-
tial.to.our.daily.life..As.a.result.they.are.commonly.found.in.the.domestic.
wastes..However,.except.for.the.chemical.sources,.the.organisms'.activities.
would. also. disturb. the. distribution. in. the. environment.. Some. phthalate.
esters.showed.accumulation.in.these.organisms,.before.getting.fully.metab-
olized..These.esters.with.their.metabolic.intermediates.may.exist.for.a.long.
time.and.have.a.potential.impact.on.the.human.health.
Toxicity of PAEs to Organisms
The.persistence.of.PAEs.has.caused.a.serious.concern.about.their.toxic.effects.
on. human.. Most. of. the. adverse. effects. suggested. estrogenic. or. antiandro-
genic. activity. of.PAEs. (Sohoni.and.Sumpter. 1998,.Zacharewski. et.al..1998)..
The. endocrine. system. in. humans. and. organisms. produces. various. hor-
mones. transported. to. different. parts. of. the. body. in. order. to. take. part. in.
the.regulation.of.development,.stimulation.of.target.cell.division,.and.so.on.
(Grifin.and.Ojeda.1996)..Chemicals.like.PAEs.also.function.as.estrogen.mim-
ics.to.stimulate.the.hormonal.responses.by.competitive.bonding.to.estrogen.
receptor. (ER). (Nakai. et. al.. 1999).. Several. endogenous. estrogens,. synthetic.
estrogens,.and.endocrine-active.compounds.(EACs).are.listed.in.Table.15.3..
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