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Trinitrotoluene removal in a soil slurry and soil box systems by an oil-degrading mixed bacterial culture

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Abstract

Bioremediation of trinitrotoluene (TNT)-contaminated soil has proven difficult due to the low bioavailability of the contaminant and its resistance to biocatalytic attack, causing slow rates of biodegradation. We have previously described a mixed bacterial culture acclimated and maintained on crude oil-containing medium that is capable of high rates of TNT biotransformation activity with low production of metabolites. We investigated the ability of this culture to bioremediate TNT-spiked soil and artificially weathered soil slurry systems, as well as a soil box system. The culture was able to remove up to 302 ppm (mg/l) of TNT within 24 h in a spiked-soil slurry system, which is among the highest rates of TNT removal reported to date. The toxicity of artificially weathered TNT-spiked soil to Vibrio fischeri decreased over a period of 39 h from a 15-min EC50 of 15.7 to 32.5 ppm. Preliminary results of a soil box system, in which no agitation was used, showed similar TNT removal to the soil slurry system, with 100 ppm TNT being removed within 24 h.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, University of Waterloo, N2L 3G1, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

    Jason T. Popesku, Ajay Singh, Yousef El-Alawi & Owen P. Ward

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  1. Jason T. Popesku
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  2. Ajay Singh
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  3. Yousef El-Alawi
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  4. Owen P. Ward
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Correspondence to Ajay Singh.

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Popesku, J.T., Singh, A., El-Alawi, Y. et al. Trinitrotoluene removal in a soil slurry and soil box systems by an oil-degrading mixed bacterial culture. World J Microbiol Biotechnol 22, 1075–1081 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-005-5452-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-005-5452-1

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