Extraction of TNT from aggregate soil fractions.
Past explosives manufacture, disposal, and training activities have contaminated soil at many military facilities, posing health and environmental risks through contact, potential detonation, and leaching into ground water. While methods have been confirmed for extraction and measuring explosives concentration in soil, no work has addressed aggregate size material (the >2 mm gravel and cobbles) that often occurs with the smaller soil fractions. This paper describes methods and results for extraction and measurement of TNT (2,4,6-trinitrotoluene) in aggregate material from 1/2 to 2-1/1 from a WWII era ammunition plant. TNT was extracted into acetonitrile by both Soxhlet and ultrasonic extraction methods. High pressure liquid chromatography analyses of extracts showed expected variation among samples. Also effective extraction and determination of TNT concentration for each aggregate size fraction was achieved.
Williford
C W
CW
Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS, USA.
Mark Bricka
R
R
D000097:Acetonitriles / Q000737:chemistry*; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D003666:Decontamination / Q000379:methods*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D010316:Particle Size; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D014303:Trinitrotoluene / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry*; D014465:Ultrasonics; D014857:Warfare
D000097:Acetonitriles; D012989:Soil Pollutants; D014303:Trinitrotoluene; C032159:acetonitrile