Treatment of TNT contaminated soil and groundwater using plant-based enzyme systems
Victor F. Medina, Lee N. Wolfe, Steven C. McCutcheon · OSTI OAI (U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information) · 1995
Trinitrotoluene (TNT) is considered toxic and a mutagen. For over 100 years, TNT has been widely used in explosives for both military and commercial applications. Soil and groundwater contamination by TNT is prevalent at military bases, manufacturing facilities and at commercial (such as mining) sites were TNT was used or stored. TNT is a difficult compound to treat. It is resistant to complete microbial degradation. Although incineration is feasible, it can be costly. One promising technology is degradation using plant enzyme systems, which has become known as phytoremediation. This paper will highlight bench and field studies of phytoremediation of TNT contaminated soil and groundwater. Parameters for developing a model will be discussed.