BTEX Emissions from the Largest Landfill in Operation in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

The emission rates and the ambient air concentrations of benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene and xylenes (BTEX) were measured over the intermediate cover layer and atmosphere of the Seropédica landfill, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. BTEX were sampled using coconut shell charcoal cartridges, followed by extraction with dichloromethane and analysis by gas chromatography with mass spectrometry. Thirteen samples were collected in areas with and without cracks in the cover layer, and six samples were collected from the ambient air. The average emission rates were 11.7, 492.2, 153.7, 67.2, and 21.7 µg m^- 2 day^- 1, respectively, for benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene, m + p-xylenes and o-xylene. No benzene concentrations above the detection limit were observed in ambient air samples. The average concentrations of toluene, ethyl benzene, m + p-xylenes and o-xylene in ambient air samples were 2.14, 1.35, 0.49 and 0.08 µg m^- 3, respectively. Higher emissions were found in locations containing larger cracks during the collection.