Listeria monocytogenes and chemical pollutants migration with landfill leachates

Field and laboratory research identified the migration of pathogenic and potentially pathogenic microorganisms and chemical contaminants, contained in leachates from municipal solid waste stored at a waste dump without subsoil insulation, into the soil and water environment. The research determined physicochemical, chemical and microbiological parameters, including Listeria monocytogenes titre, in surface water and ground-water collected at various distances from the waste dump. The most common microbiological contaminant in groundwater samples was Listeria monocytogenes. Of the remaining bacteria in the water samples, a group of heterotrophic psychrophilic bacteria, commonly recognised as indicators of water pollution with organic compounds, was most dominant.