Anaerobic transformation of TNT
- Univ. of Notre Dame, IN (United States)
- Argonne National Lab., IL (United States)
Most studies on the microbial metabolism of nitroaromatic compounds have used aerobic tempts to degrade nitroaromatics under aerobic microorganisms. In many cases attempts to degrade nitroaromatics under aerobic conditions results in no mineralization and only superficial modifications of the structure. However, under anaerobic sulfate-reducing conditions, the nitroaromatic compounds undergo a series of reductions with the formation of amino compounds. Trinitrotoluene under sulfate-reducing conditions is reduced to triaminotoluene presumably by the enzyme nitrite reductase, which is commonly found in many Desulfovibrio spp. The removal of nitrate from trinitrotoluene is achieved by a series of reductive reactions with the production of ammonia and toluene by Desulfovibrio sp. (B strain). Similar metabolic processes could be applied to other nitroaromatic compounds like nitrobenzene, nitrobenzoic acids, nitrophenols, and aniline. This presentation will review the data supporting the anaerobic transformation of TNT and other nitroaromatics.
- OSTI ID:
- 210325
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9509139--
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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