Utlakning av tungmetaller från Skörby deponi

Abstract: The purpose of this thesis has been to assess whether leaching from one particular Swedishlandfill site, Skörbytippen, is contributing to elevated levels of heavy metals in a ditch runningfrom the landfill site to the lake Mälaren in the communal region of Håbo kommun. Since theditch is stretching approximately five km downstream from the landfill site, in situ observationsand maps with known points of inflow was utilized to determine appropriate test points for thecollection of samples.Soil, water and sediment samples were collected and analyzed for content of organic material, pHand conductivity. Data on plant-available elements and total amounts of heavy metals wasacquired through ICP-analysis.The results show that the Skörby landfill is currently in the methane-forming anaerobedevelopment phase, which indicates that the concentration of free and complex-bound metals inthe leachate water should be low due to chemical binding with other landfill compounds. The pHof the sediment samples was generally one unit higher than the soil samples and some of themeasured data, such as pH and conductivity, show that an environmentally disturbing dischargeof some kind of strongly alkaline chemical(s) has been made from Benders’ takpanneindustri inclose proximity to the landfill. The levels of plant-available heavy metals were generally low, butthere were some test sites where the data shows high total levels of Cd, Cu and Zn in thesediment samples.Under current conditions, the environmental impact of the landfill with respect to heavy metalleaching is of relatively limited importance. The site will however need to be studied further,since unforeseen environmental changes will influence the amounts of heavy metals that areleached out from the landfill.