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U.S. Department of Energy
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Land treatment of polynuclear aromatic compounds

Thesis/Dissertation ·
OSTI ID:7018692
This research project investigated the treatment potential of soil systems for polynuclear aromatic compounds (PNAs) identified in wastes from industrial and municipal sources. A protocol for obtaining the soil assimilative capacities of PNA compounds (including mutagenic characteristics inactivation) was developed for a subset of three compounds. Data were obtained to describe: 1) kinetics of transformation; 2) effect of PNA structure on transformation kinetics; 3) effect of PNA concentration in soil on transformation kinetics; 4) effect of engineering management options on transformation kinetics, including nutrient addition, pH amendment, surfactant addition, and analog enrichment; 5) genotoxicity of transformation products formed in PNA degradation in soil; and 6) soil acclimation to PNAs. A three-step protocol including: 1) incubation, 2) identification, and 3) determination of mutagenic potential involves interfacing high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) for compound and metabolite identification with the Ames mammalian microsome mutagenicity assay for determining genotoxic potential of PNA compounds and transformation products in soil. Identification (HPLC) and mutation (Ames assay) were quantified. Results for PNA degradation kinetics indicate that most PNAs have reasonable, finite half-lives in soil systems at the concentrations studied. Results for mutagencity testing for benz(a)pyrene (B(a)P) and dibenz(a,j)acridine (DB(a,j)ACR) and soil metabolites indicate that the mutagenic potential of degradation products of these soil-incubated PNAs are much less than the parent compound.
OSTI ID:
7018692
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English