Chemical and thermal methods for disposal of pesticides

Chemical, physical, and biological methods for the disposal and detoxification of pesticides

“…KENNEDY et al (1969 and were able to degrade 15 of 19 examined pesticides using a liquid ammonia-metalic sodium solution, while treatment with sodium biphenyl, hydrogen peroxide, or metalic lithium-liquid ammonia was not as successful. LEIGH (1969) examined the degradation of lindane, heptachlor, DDT, and endrin at water-soluble concentrations by chlorine, potassium permanganate, and potassium persulfate and reported that except for heptachlor degradation by potassium permanganate, only minor chemical degradation occurred after 48 hr of treatment with 50 ppm of reactants.…”

“…Although the uses of ozone or ultraviolet light are individually not extremely successful in oxidizing organic compounds in wastewaters, MAUK and PRENGLE (1976) reported that combined ozone and ultraviolet light treatment greatly improved the chemical oxidation of refractory organic compounds in wastewaters. Although the agents examined by KENNEDY et al (1969 and were generally able to effect a chemical change in the parent pesticide molecule, the chemical by-products and the added reactants must still be considered hazardous, the reactions themselves are dangerous, and thus these chemical treatment systems cannot be recommended as disposal procedures for use by the layman ( LAWLESS et al 1975, SHIH andDEL PORTO 1975) and would increase the chemical wastewater load if applied to industrial situations without producing compensating benefits. MELNIKOV et al (1958), however, recommended the use of 45 kg of bleaching power or its chlorine equivalent, along with 40 kg of sodium hydroxide for the detoxification of one cu m of industrial wastewater derived from the production of parathion.…”

“…The advantages of incineration as a method of pesticide disposal are (1) a wide variety of pesticides, pesticide formulations, and related wastes can be combusted, including mixtures of pesticides, (2) incineration systems are quite stable and reliable and the efHuent gases containing hazardous combustion products can be scrubbed to meet environmental air standards, and (3) incinerators can combust large quantities of pesticides as well as some pesticide containers. Pesticide incineration research has centered on attempts to develop methods for the disposal of specific wastes, such as DDT (MONTGOMERY et al 1971) and Herbicide Orange (HUTSON 1974, STO]ANOVIC et al 1972 or on experiments for establishing the parameters needed to insure complete combustion of selected pesticides (DUVALL and RUBEY 1976, FERGUSON et al 1975, KENNEDY et al 1969, RILEy 1975, SHIH et al 1975, SWEENEY and FISCHER 1970. Two reviews concerning the incineration of pesticides have been written (LEHMAN 1974, SCURLOCK et al 1975.…”

“…Pesticide combustion studies conducted by KENNEDY et al ( 1969) demonstrated that temperatures of I,OOOoe were generally needed for complete combustion of 20 commercial pesticide formulations. Incineration at 60aoe produced greater than 80% combustion of the examined pesticides, except for zineb (70%) and dalapon (64%), while 1,0OOoe caused greater than 99% combustion of all pesticides except for atrazine (89%), malathion (96%), zineb (73%), bromacil (91%), dalapon (91 %), diuron (96%), DMSA (81%), and carbaryl (90%).…”

“…Acid or base hydrolysis of certain pesticides, primarily organophosphates (COWART et al 1971, MUlll..MANN and SCHRADER 1957, RUZICKA et al 1967, phenylcarbamates (FAUST and GOMAA 1972), phenoxyacetates, phenylureas, and acid anilides (EL-DIB and ALy 1976, KENNEDY et al 1969 has been examined at low pesticide concentrations (one to 20 ppm). Some of these pesticides are unstable in both strong acid and base, but generally, basic conditions create higher rates of chemical hydrolysis.…”