Degradation rates of alkyl methylphosphonates in soil
- Univ. of Delaware, Newark, DE (United States). Dept. of Civil Engineering
Alkyl methylphosphonates have long been used as indicators of the presence or former presence of organophosphonate chemical warfare (nerve) agents (CWA) in environmental media. However, the quality of this inference is uncertain. An understanding of the kinetics of degradation can provide a necessary link between historical records and field sampling results. Alternatively, field sampling data could provide time of deposition information. Organophosphonate CWAs hydrolyze quickly to methylphosphonate monoalkyl esters which can further degrade to methylphosphonate, which is resistant to chemical degradation. All compounds are susceptible to biodegradation to phosphate. The degradation rates are evaluated for each compound on a series of soils. The degradation rate constants are related to the soil physical and chemical properties. The derived relationships provide information which will be useful in selecting an experimental protocol for future mechanistic studies. a preliminary environmental fate model is developed.
- OSTI ID:
- 37515
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9410273--
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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