Attenuation of TNT in seawater microcosms

Harrison, I.; Vane, Christopher H.

doi:10.2166/wst.2010.171

Cited by 13 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…When sand with non-detectable total organic carbon (TOC) was spiked with TNT, only a small degree of transformation to Am-DNTs occurred over time, while spiking fine-grained sediment (TOC = 1.1%) with TNT resulted in a large degree of transformation ( Figure 5.2). The stimulatory effect of enhanced sediment TOC on the transformation of TNT in water overlying the contaminated sediment was demonstrated by Harrison and Vane (2010). When TNT was spiked into marine sediments, as the contact time with sediment ("aging period") increased, the proportion of solvent-extractable TNT in the sediment decreased (Steevens et al 2002, Conder et al 2004areviewed in Lotufo et al 2009a).…”

Section: Fate Of Nitroaromatic MC Amended To Sediment For Toxicity Tementioning

confidence: 98%

Summary Review of the Aquatic Toxicology of Munitions Constituents

Lotufo¹,

Rosen²,

Wild³

et al. 2013

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Military munitions are present in waters around the world, including those waters located at current and former Department of Defense sites. This report provides a review of the aquatic ecotoxicology of munitions constituents (MC), including nitroaromatics (2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT), dinitrotoluenes (DNTs), 1,3,5-trinitrobenzene (TNB), 2,4,6-trinitrophenylmethylnitramine (tetryl) and 2,4,6-trinitrophenol (picric acid)); nitrate esters (nitrocellulose (NC), pentaerythritoltetranitrate (PETN), nitroglycerine (NG)); and nitramines (hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX), and octahydro-1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazocine (HMX)). The major focus of this report is on the fate and effects of MC in the marine environment. Most MC observed in this study rapidly degraded in aqueous exposure systems and nitroaromatics showed a significant binding affinity with organic matter. To support the assessment of risk from MC in aquatic environments, laboratory-based toxicity data have been derived for a variety of aquatic species for both lethal and sublethal exposure endpoints using spiked water or sediment. Frequently, unrealistically high concentrations were used to derive toxicity benchmarks. In general, nitramines were less toxic than nitroaromatics, with a wide range of sensitivity among species. MC are weakly hydrophobic and bioaccumulative potential was low, as expected. High elimination rates for MC resulted in a virtually complete loss of body residue within hours to days following transfer to clean water. Uptake of TNT resulted in the substantial formation of bound residues. For fish, aqueous exposure was the dominant route of exposure to explosive compounds, with dietary uptake providing only minimal contribution. More realistic exposures using Composition B and multiple species found the presence of munitions in aquatic environments unlikely to result in biological effects. Verification of this conclusion should be pursued by determining site-specific exposure risk.

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Section: Fate Of Nitroaromatic MC Amended To Sediment For Toxicity Tementioning

confidence: 98%

Summary Review of the Aquatic Toxicology of Munitions Constituents

Lotufo¹,

Rosen²,

Wild³

et al. 2013

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“…Grain size, clay content and type, quantity of organic carbon in the sediments, and water salinity are the primary geochemical properties that control the equilibrium partition constants, such as the apparent sediment water distribution coefficient (Kd), of MC, such as TNT and RDX ). Smaller grain size, greater clay content, and greater total organic carbon (TOC) often leads to quicker reduction in concentration of the parent MC in the overlying water column (Harrison and Vane, 2010;Smith et al, 2013). The expected slow release rate (Wang et al 2011) coupled with the rapid removal of MC in sediments near UWMM could facilitate the low concentrations measured in water surrounding UWMM (Chapter 5).…”

Section: Fate Of Tnt and Rdx In Marine Environments Determined Using mentioning

confidence: 99%

Review and synthesis of evidence regarding environmental risks posed by munitions constituents (MC) in aquatic systems

Lotufo¹,

Chappell²,

Price³

et al. 2017

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Underwater military munitions (UWMM) may pose a risk to aquatic environments because they typically contain munitions constituents (MC) such as 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) and hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX). If UWMM become corroded or breaches, the fill material may leak or dissolve into the surrounding environment, which could potentially adversely affecting affect the exposed biota. In large part, because of the high cost and complexity associated with sampling MC at UWMM sites, detailed and reliable information about MC in water, sediment, and biota is available for only a few sites, and therefore temporal and spatial uncertainties persist. Examination of available data indicates that concentrations of MC in water and sediment were largely below detection or were relatively low (e.g., parts per billion), with higher concentrations being highly localized and typically near a point source. These findings were in accordance with predictive modeling and with fate studies. Available toxicity data derived for a variety of freshwater and marine species were compiled and used to derive interim water quality criteria and protective values derived from species sensitivity distributions. Toxicity varied widely across a diversity of MC and species. For most aquatic sites, MC contamination in sediment and in the watercolumn presents low risk to the resident biota.

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“…For example, the half-life of hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX) can vary between 40 and 1000 days (Speitel et al 2001), while the half-life of TNT ranges from 130 to 1900 days (Harrison and Vane 2010). Although there are bacteria that can mineralize RDX, trinitrophenol (TNP), dinitrotoluene (DNT), and nitroglycerin (NG) as sole carbon and nitrogen sources (Spanggord et al 1991;Rieger et al 1999; Thompson et al 2005;Husserl et al 2010), to the best of our knowledge, there is no publication that clearly demonstrates mineralization of TNT or PETN.…”

Section: Responsible Editor: Zhihong Xumentioning

confidence: 99%

Persistence of pentolite (PETN and TNT) in soil microcosms and microbial enrichment cultures

Arbeli

García-Bonilla

Pardo

et al. 2016

Environ Sci Pollut Res

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Pentolite is a mixture (1:1) of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) and pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN), and little is known about its fate in the environment. This study was aimed to determine the dissipation of pentolite in soils under laboratory conditions. Microcosm experiments conducted with two soils demonstrated that dissipation rate of PETN was significantly slower than that of TNT. Interestingly, the dissipation of PETN was enhanced by the presence of TNT, while PETN did not enhanced the dissipation of TNT. Pentolite dissipation rate was significantly faster under biostimulation treatment (addition of carbon source) in soil from the artificial wetland, while no such stimulation was observed in soil from detonation field. In addition, the dissipation rate of TNT and PETN in soil from artificial wetland under biostimulation was significantly faster than the equivalent abiotic control, although it seems that non-biological processes might also be important for the dissipation of TNT and PETN. Transformation of PETN was also slower during establishment of enrichment culture using pentolite as the sole nitrogen source. In addition, transformation of these explosives was gradually reduced and practically stopped after the forth cultures transfer (80 days). DGGE analysis of bacterial communities from these cultures indicates that all consortia were dominated by bacteria from the order Burkholderiales and Rhodanobacter. In conclusion, our results suggest that PETN might be more persistent than TNT.

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Attenuation of TNT in seawater microcosms

Cited by 13 publications

References 38 publications

Summary Review of the Aquatic Toxicology of Munitions Constituents

Summary Review of the Aquatic Toxicology of Munitions Constituents

Review and synthesis of evidence regarding environmental risks posed by munitions constituents (MC) in aquatic systems

Persistence of pentolite (PETN and TNT) in soil microcosms and microbial enrichment cultures

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