Toxicity testing

1. Toxicity characteristics include heavy metals, pesticides, insecticides etc.
2. Heavy metals are present in municipal solid waste due to the waste from small scale industries.
3. As some of the heavy metals leach out, testing for heavy metals is often carried out.
4. Toxicity Characteristics Leaching Procedure (TCLP) test is invariably carried out if the waste is suspected to be toxic in nature.
5. The methods of analysis for presence of heavy metals, TCLP and presence of pesticides are described in Annexure 1 of solid waste management.