Research Watch: Breakdown of explosives - American Chemical Society

BIOREMEDIATION. Breakdown of explosives. Serious environmental contamina- tion has been caused by the produc- tion and disposal of explosives such...
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RESEARCH WATCH

BIOREMEDIATION Breakdown of explosives Serious environmental contamination has been caused by the production and disposal of explosives such as hexahydro-l,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5triazine (RDX). D. Young and colleagues studied the breakdown of RDX in slurry reactors and determined the performance of various biodegrading species and nutrients. Although adding bacteria to the system increased the rate of RDX breakdown, the enhancement may not justify their use which can be pensive. Corn steep liquor QYI inexpensive, rich nutrient source, nro _ vided enough nutrients for RDX breakdown Because of reactor sysheterogeneity the rate of RDX breakdown was not constant throughout the experiment Tf t h e nutrient SUDDIV is ODtimized RDX

can break down in as little as 1 5 months; thus this method is an attractive alternative to incineration (Rintprhnnl

Rinpnp 1997