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Emerging Trends in Bioremediation of Explosive Industry Wastewater
Published in Y.V. Nancharaiah, Vayalam P. Venugopalan, Microbial Biofilms in Bioremediation and Wastewater Treatment, 2019
S. Mary Celin, Anchita Kalsi, Pallavi Bhanot, Ila Chauhan, Pritam Sangwan
By definition, explosives are solid or liquid substances, alone or mixed with one another, are in a metastablestate and are capable of undergoing a rapid chemical reaction without the participation of external reactants such as atmospheric oxygen (Meyer 1987). Nitro aromatic explosives consist of trinitrotoluene (TNT) in various degrees of purity and 2,4- and 2,6-isomers of dinitrotoluene (DNT). TNT has wide applications in shells, bombs, grenades, demolition explosives and propellant compositions. DNT is mainly used in the production of polyurethane foams and polymers in the manufacture of explosives and as a modifier of smoke less powders. Aromatic nitramines viz., Tetryl Aliphaticnitramines viz., Hexahydro 1,3,5-triniro 1,3,5-triazine (RDX) and 1,3,5,7-Tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetraazacyclo octane (HMX) are used extensively as a booster charge in many munition formulations, especially in artillery shells or as a component in solid fuel rocket propellants. Nitrocellulose, Nitroglycerine (NG, glycerol trinitrate), Pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN) and Ethylene glycol dinitrate (EGDN) are the main nitric acid esters used as detonating agents, an important component in dynamites and multibase propellants (Urbanski 1990).
Chemicals from Aromatic Hydrocarbons
Published in James G. Speight, Handbook of Petrochemical Processes, 2019
In the process for the production of trinitrotoluene, the trinitro-compound in is produced in a three-step process. In the first step, toluene is nitrated using a mixture of sulfuric and nitric acids to produce MNT which is then separated and, in the second step, nitrated to produce dinitrotoluene. In the third and final step, the dinitrotoluene is nitrated to trinitrotoluene using an anhydrous mixture of nitric acid and oleum (fuming sulfuric acid, usually represented as H2SO4.SO3). The nitric acid is consumed by the manufacturing process but the diluted sulfuric acid can be reconcentrated and reused. After nitration, the trinitrotoluene is stabilized by a process (sometime referred to as sulfitation) in which the crude trinitrotoluene is treated with aqueous sodium sulfite (Na2SO3) solution to remove less stable isomers of trinitrotoluene and other undesired reaction products. The rinse water from sulfitation (red water) is a significant pollutant and waste product from the manufacture of trinitrotoluene.
Remediation of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene Persistent in the Environment – A review
Published in Soil and Sediment Contamination: An International Journal, 2020
Presence of nitroaromatic explosive residues in the environment poses a great threat to surface water, subsurface soil and groundwater.2,4,6-Trinitrotoluene (TNT)is popular among other explosives bothin production and usage (Rahal and Moussa 2011; Snellinx et al. 2002; Spain, Hughes, and Knackmuss 2000).TNT and its derivatives such as 2,4-dinitrotoluene (2,4-DNT)and 2,6-dinitrotoluene (2,6-DNT) are used in rockets, missiles and as intermediates in the manufacture of polyurethanes, smokeless gun powder, dyestuffs and photographic chemicals. These compounds are released through firing of munitions, industrial effluents, disposal of ordnance, open incineration and through leaching from unlined impoundments. Other nitro compounds such as nitroglycerin (NG), nitrobenzene (NB) nitrocellulose(NC) are also used widely in the manufacture of industrial products like lubricating oils, dyes, and synthetic rubber (EPA 2017; Kalderis, Juhasz, and Boopathy 2011; Rodgers and Bunce 2001).The explosive residues in the soil range from trace quantities to as high as 14000 mg/kg (ATSDR, 1995; MMR, 2001).
Tendency of using different aromatic compounds as substrates by 2,4-DNT dioxygenase expressed by pJS39 carrying the gene dntA from Burkholderia sp. strain DNT
Published in Bioremediation Journal, 2018
Khaled M. Khleifat, Muhamad O. Al-limoun, Khalid Y. Alsharafa, Haitham Qaralleh, Amjad A. Al Tarawneh
DNT dioxygenase is a member of a family of closely related proteins. 2, 4-Dinitrotoluene (2,4-DNT), which is a substrate for DNT dioxygenase, is the major toxic material generated by the manufacture of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene diisocyanate, which is used in the production of polyurethane foam and TNT (Keith and Telliard 1979; Spanggord et al. 1991; Harayama, Kok, and Neidle 1992; Serrano et al. 2018). Burkholderia sp. strain DNT, previously identified as Pseudomonas sp. strain DNT, is an aerobic, Gram-negative, and aerobically 2,4-DNT degrading bacterium (Suen and Spain 1993). A biodegradation pathway for 2,4-DNT by Burkholderia sp. strain DNT was first proposed by Spanggord et al. (1991). DNT dioxygenase attacks DNT to form a yellow product, 4-methyl-5-nitrocatechol (MNC) and release the first nitrite. The initial attack catalyzed by DNT dioxygenase involves a displacement of the 4-nitro group by molecular oxygen (Farr and Cain 1968; Spain and Gibson 1991; Spanggord et al. 1991; Spain 1995; Suen, Haigler, and Spain 1996). Rapid oxidation of MNC and elimination of nitrite by Burkholderia DNT cells indicate that MNC is on the metabolic pathway for DNT degradation and not the product of a side reaction. It was confirmed later that MNC undergoes further attack by a monooxygenase to produce 2-hydroxy-5-methyl quinone (HMQ) and nitrite. The HMQ is further degraded by quinone reductase 2,4,5-triihydroxytololuene (THT) oxygenase, leaving colorless ring fission products (Haigler, Pettigrew, and Spain 1992; Suen et al. 1996, Wang et al. 2011). Thus, the DNT pathway has several steps at which oxygen is used.
Ecotoxicity of 2,4-dinitrotoluene to cold tolerant plant species in a sub-Arctic soil
Published in International Journal of Phytoremediation, 2019
Stacey J. Doherty, Komi S. Messan, Ryan R. Busby, Robyn A. Barbato
More than 24 million acres of land in the United States and its territories are contaminated by munitions through live-fire exercises that have been occurring for decades (U.S. GAO 2004). Once deposited on the soil surface, munitions pose an environmental threat through transport from surface soil to both surface- and ground-water (Clausen et al. 2004). Of critical concern is their threat to higher order organisms, particularly if they migrate beyond the Department of Defense (DoD) installation boundaries. Dinitrotoluene (DNT) is commonly used to manufacture 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT), polyurethane foam, and dyes. DNT is a common soil contaminant at munition manufacturing sites and Army installations (Lent et al. 2012) and is listed on the Priority Pollutant List regulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The more common DNT isomer, 2,4-DNT, is also used in propellants as a plasticizer (Bordeleau et al. 2008) and, therefore, is commonly found at firing points on military training lands. Concentrations of 2,4-DNT at firing points have been determined to be in the range of milligram per kilogram of soil, with even higher concentrations at propellant disposal craters (Jenkins et al. 2001; Walsh et al. 2004). 2,4-DNT is toxic to higher organisms such as rats, dogs, and plants (U.S. EPA 1990; Rocheleau et al. 2006, 2010), with the human health risk being set by the U.S. EPA for soil screening levels at 1.6 mg kg−1 for residential, 5.5 mg kg−1 for industrial, and the soil-to-groundwater risk-based screening level to be 2.8 × 10−4 mg kg−1 (U.S. EPA 2013).