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Microbial Degradation of 2,4,6-Trinitrotoluene: Application to Explosives Sensor

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Microbial Degradation of Xenobiotics

Part of the book series: Environmental Science and Engineering ((ESE))

Abstract

2,4,6-Trinitrotoluene (TNT) is a highly energetic compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3 and best known as a useful explosive material with convenient handling properties which led to a relatively safe storage due to the low sensitivity to impact shock and heat stimulation compared to other explosives and no metallic corrosion (Boileau et al. 1987). Then, TNT has been used as an explosive for military and industrial purposes and the TNT production reached to its peak during the two World Wars (Harter 1985). It is estimated that TNT is produced close to 1,000,000 kg per year (Harter 1985). Therefore, a high concentration of TNT has been still found in soil and groundwater at former manufacturing sites (Fernando et al. 1990; Hawari et al. 2000; Lewis et al. 2004; Maeda et al. 2006a). Presently soil and groundwater contamination by the explosive is a serious problem in the countries, mainly United States, Germany and Canada (Pennington 1999; Fritsche et al. 2000). Sediments and soils beneath some industrial sites contain large amounts of nitro aromatics with up to 10 g of TNT per kg of soil being reported for some sites (Carpenter et al. 1978; Kaplan and Kaplan 1982; Fernando et al. 1990). The biodegradation studies have indicated that an explosive is highly recalcitrant for microbial biodegradation (Rieger and Knackmuss 1995a, b). Among them, in particular, TNT is more recalcitrant than other nitroaromatic compounds (e.g. mono- and dinitrotoluenes), because three nitro groups are located symmetrically on the aromatic ring which restrict the attack by classic dioxygenase enzymes involved in the microbial metabolism of aromatic compounds. Hence, TNT has strong cytotoxicity and mutagenicity in various living organisms (Won et al. 1976; Ahlborg et al. 1988; Tan et al. 1992; Berthe-Corti et al. 1998; Letzel et al. 2003; Padda et al. 2003; Saka 2004; Sun et al. 2005) and is listed as class C potential human carcinogen by the US Environmental Protection Agency. In addition, in TNT-exposed humans, notable toxic manifestations have included aplastic anaemia, toxic hepatitis, cataracts, hepatomegaly, and liver cancer (Sabbioni et al. 2007); therefore, it is significant to develop the bioremediation technology for TNT.

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  1. Department of Biological Functions and Engineering, Graduate School of Life Science and Systems Engineering, Kyushu Institute of Technology, 2-4 Hibikino, Wakamatsu-ku, Kitakyushu, 808-0196, Japan

    Toshinari Maeda & Hiroaki I. Ogawa

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  1. Toshinari Maeda
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  2. Hiroaki I. Ogawa
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Correspondence to Toshinari Maeda .

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  1. , Environmental Science Division, National Botanical Research Institute, Rana Pratap Marg., Lucknow, 226001, India

    Shree Nath Singh

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Maeda, T., Ogawa, H.I. (2012). Microbial Degradation of 2,4,6-Trinitrotoluene: Application to Explosives Sensor. In: Singh, S. (eds) Microbial Degradation of Xenobiotics. Environmental Science and Engineering(). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-23789-8_8

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