Bioremediation of soils impacted by chlorinated pesticides/herbicides and nitroaromatics
- Grace Dearborn Inc., Mississauga, Ontario (Canada)
Chlorinated pesticide and herbicide manufacturing and application, coupled with the long natural half-lives of these compounds, has resulted in many incidents of soil contamination throughout the world. Soils impacted by nitroaromatics such as 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT), due largely to past military activities, are also common. The potential environmental and human health risks are spawning development of various technologies to remediate these impacted soils. Bench-scale microcosm studies using four North American soils, containing (1) Metolachlor, (2) 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T, (3) chlorinated pesticides (including DDT, DDD, DDE and toxaphene) and (4) TNT, were conducted. The most effective approach involved successive establishment of anoxic and oxic conditions in the soil. The anoxic/oxic cycling process, controlled by the addition of Daramend organic amendments and other agents, enhances reductive decomposition of soil contaminants (in the anoxic phase) and contaminant mineralization (in the oxic phase). Substantial reductions in contaminant concentrations have been observed. Metolachlor concentrations have been reduced from 139 to 4 mg/kg, p,p-DDT from 684 to 2 mg/kg, toxaphene from 1,045 to 244 mg/kg and TNT from 7,200 to 19 mg/kg, all in under 190 days. A patent on this technology has been granted.
- OSTI ID:
- 215536
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-951139-; TRN: IM9618%%220
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 16. hazardous waste conference and exhibition: new frontiers in hazardous waste, Washington, DC (United States), 6-8 Nov 1995; Other Information: PBD: 1995; Related Information: Is Part Of Superfund 16: Conference and exhibition proceedings. Volume 2; PB: 817 p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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