Fate of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) during soil composting at U.S. military installations
- Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Lab., Hanover, NH (United States)
A persistent problem at US military facilities is contamination of soil by residues resulting from former explosives manufacture and use. Composting is being investigated as a means of decontaminating these sites, but this approach has been hampered by the inability to identify the major end products and obtain mass balances. The authors have developed analytical methods to analyze composts for TNT metabolites, including some bound residues which were not recoverable using a conventional method of solvent extraction (sonication with acetonitrile). Their work indicates that additional metabolites can be released by acid hydrolysis of compost following preliminary solvent extraction to remove unbound forms. Both the 4 (predominant) and the 2-amino isomers of dinitrotoluene were identified and determined by HPLC after hydrolysis as major bound metabolites. These correspond to initial reduction of either of the nitro groups of TNT, which then evidently become sites for covalent binding to the organic matter matrix. Enzymatic hydrolysis methods are also being explored to obtain information as to the location and type of association of bound residues within the matrix. By analyzing a time series of samples from composted soil the authors have obtained some information about the kinetics of the reduction and binding processes.
- OSTI ID:
- 242399
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9511137--; ISBN 1-880611-03-1
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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