Biological Treatment of TNT-Contaminated Soil by a Two-Stage Anaerobic/Aerobic Process

TNT is found as a major soil contaminant at the sites of armanent plants from World War I and II. While no complete biological mineralization of TNT has yet been found, many bacteria can co-metabolically reduce the nitro groups of TNT to amino groups during anaerobic fermentation of readily available substrates. In a soil slurry, the final reduction product (TAT) irreversibly reacts with soil components. The biological treatment of TNT-contaminated soil with complete reduction of TNT to TAT and immobilization of TAT is a potential remediation process that is currently being tested at a technical scale. The large-scale experiment is accompanied by investigations on the immobilization of TAT and the toxicity of the treated soil.