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TECHNICAL REPORTS
Bioremediation and Biodegradation

RDX Loss in a Surface Soil under Saturated and Well Drained Conditions

U.S. Army ERDC-CRREL, 72 Lyme Rd., Hanover, NH 03755

^* Corresponding author (David.B.Ringelberg{at}erdc.usace.army.mil)

Received for publication July 8, 2002. On military training ranges, low-order, incomplete detonations deposit RDX (hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine) into surface soils. In this study, we evaluated RDX biodegradation in surface soils obtained from a military training range in Alaska. Two factors were compared: (i) soil water potential during the incubations; and (ii) the use of acetonitrile (ACN) as an RDX carrier to spike samples. Organic solvents have been used in laboratory studies to dissolve slightly water-soluble contaminants before addition to soil. We added ACN to obtain final soil ACN concentrations of 0 mg kg^-1 (0%), 1000 mg kg^-1 (0.1%) and 10 000 mg kg^-1 (1%). We then compared RDX attenuation in the soil under saturated and unsaturated conditions. RDX fell below the limit of detection within 3 wk of study initiation under the saturated condition. A maximum degradation rate of 0.15 mg RDX L^-1 d^-1 was measured. Under the unsaturated condition, 42% of the original RDX was still present at study termination (5 wk). The addition of acetonitrile at 0.1 or 1.0% had no affect on RDX loss in the saturated soil. In the unsaturated soil, however, ACN at 1.0% inhibited RDX loss by as much as 25%. These findings indicate that soil water potential and carrier solvent concentrations can impact the rate and extent to which RDX is attenuated in a surface soil.

Abbreviations: ACN, acetonitrile • PLFAs, ester-linked polar lipid fatty acids • RDX, hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine

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JEQ 2003 32: 1167-1172. [Full Text]  

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