Because municipal solid waste may contain fecal material from a variety of sources, there is concern that the leachate discharged from some solid waste landfills may contain enteric pathogens, including enteric viruses. In this study, 22 leachate samples from 21 different landfills in the United States and Canada were examined for enteric viruses. The sites represented a broad range of conditions for solid waste landfills and the leachate samples ranged from 10.3 to 18 liters in volume. Enteric viruses were found in only one of the 22 leachate samples examined. Two viruses, identified as poliovirus types 1 and 3, were found in an 11.8 liter sample obtained from a site where solid waste landfill practice was deficient. The low levels of enteric viruses detected in field samples of raw leachate and the opportunities for further reductions in the virus concentration of leachates by such processes as thermal inactivation, removal by soil and dilution in ground and surface waters, suggest that leachates from properly operated solid waste landfills do not constitute an environmental or public health hazard due to enteric viruses.
