• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.1113-1126
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• 2000

Humic substances present in landfill leachates were extracted and their characteristics were analyzed with respect to landfilling age as a basic study to evaluate the effect of humic substances on the transport and transformation of other pollutants in pollution plume contaminated by landfill leachate. Element analysis of the extracted humic substances were performed. The information on the functional groups of the humic substances molecules were obtained from the spectroscopic analysis using UV-visible, FT/IR, and fluorescence spectroscopy. The structural characteristics of the humic substances were also analyzed by $^1H$ and $^{13}C$ NMR spectroscopy. From the results of the analyses it was found that the structure of the humic substances present in landfill leachates was more aliphatic than aromatic relative to other common humic substances extracted from natural soils and water. The results indicate that the degree of humification of the humic substances were relatively low. The degree of humification, however, was increased as the landfilling age was increased.