ABSTRACT
E x p lo siv es co n tam in a tio n in so ils and g ro u n d w ate r is a com m on env ironm en tal p ro b lem at m an y m ilitary and civilian in s ta lla tions. 2 ,4 ,6 -trin itro to lu en e (T N T ) co n stitu tes a large po rtio n o f th is con tam ination . T h e ob jective o f th is research w as to evalua te the treatm ent o f T N T in so lu tion and so ils u s in g cata lyzed h y d ro g en p ero x id e (F e n to n ’s reagent) generated h y d ro x y l rad ica ls . In so lu tio n , T O T w as rap id ly d eg rad ed afte r th ree sequentia l add itions o f H 2O 2 and F e in a
m o la r ra tio o f 25 :15:1 (H 2C>2 :F e2+ :T O T) at p H betw een 2 .5 and 3. T hree o x id a tio n p ro d u cts w ere fo rm ed an d fo u n d to be read ily d eg rad ab le . T w o o f these o x id a tio n p ro d u c ts w ere id en tif ied as 2 ,4 ,6 -trin itro b en za ld ah y d e (T O B A ) and 3 ,5d in itroan iline . T h ree so ils that w ere am ended w ith T N T (4 4 0 m g/k g ) w ere a lso read ily trea ted w ith F e n to n ’s reagent. A soil s lu rry o f 1 M H 2O 2 an d 10 m M F e ox id ized 95 % o f T N T in th ree so ils afte r 8 h o u rs . F u rth e r treatm ents w ith 1 M H 2O 2 re su lted in fu r th e r T N T d eg rad a tio n , h o w ev er 1 to 2% o f T N T rem ained in an un treatab le state on the so il su rface . A ll o b se rv ed o x ida tion p ro d u c ts w ere deg radab le in so il trea tm en ts , w ith o n e less deg radab le p resu m ab ly due to i t ’s s tro n g e r partition to so il su rfaces. F e n to n ’s reag en t o x ida tion is a p ro m isin g rem ed ia tio n too l fo r d eco n tam in a tin g ex p lo s iv e residues.
