Mary Jasmelle D. Camañan, Dara Faye T. Daguison, Nikki Marie O. Marquez, Christine C. Velarde, Danilo T. Dy, Patrick John Y. Lim
Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is a pressing concern in Cebu City, Philippines, where use of its outdated sanitary landfill has been extended well beyond its allocated seven-year lifespan. Using appropriate US EPA methods for analyses, this study verifies the presence of chromium and lead (respectively, in ppm) in leachate water (0.27 ± 0.34, 0.21 ± 0.20), sediment (44.00 ± 67.12, 489.76 ± 1019.07), soil (101.69 ± 112.98, 374.86 ± 772.55), and collected plants from the landfill, namely Cenchrus echinatus Linn. (10.78 ± 10.87, 22.47 ± 20.86), Chloris barbata Sw. (19.99 ± 39.91, 27.02 ± 22.65), and Portulaca oleracea Linn. (5.61 ± 3.11, 43.04 ± 76.22). Soil and sediment appear to be the environmental sink for chromium and lead, respectively, while plants C. echinatus, C. barbata, and P. oleracea show no bioaccumulation of the two metals, i.e., bioconcentration factors (BCF) for chromium = 0.1060, 0.1966, 0.0552; and lead = 0.0599, 0.0721, 0.1148, respectively, suggesting a lack of biological mobility for these two metals. Low potential ecological risk (Er = 2.34) is present from chromium levels in soil, although there is considerable potential ecological risk (Er = 125) from lead concentrations in soil. Immobilization or removal of these metals must be incorporated into plans for site rehabilitation and restoration for development. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2026.
School of Arts and Sciences, University of San Carlos, Cebu City, Cebu, Philippines
