Migration of explosives in soil: analysis of rdx, tnt, and tetryl from a 14c lysimeter study

Nitroaromatic Munition Compounds: Environmental Effects and Screening Values

“…The hydrolysis product, picric acid, may also form complexes with metal ions in the soil (Layton et al 1987). Hale et al (1979) studied the transport of tetryl through soil columns, and Kayser and Burlinson (1988) analyzed soil and water samples from these experiments. 14 C-Labeled tetryl was added to the surface layer of 5 x 61 em soil columns contained in steel pipes; four different types of soil were tested.…”

“…Soil migration was also studied utilizing both 152-cm-deep x 90-cm-wide cylinders and 5-cm x 61-cm-deep lysimeters, the latter containing 14 C-labeled RDX, in a controlled greenhouse experiment (Hale et al 1979;Kayser and Burlinson 1988). The soils (four types ranging from silty clay to sandy loam with organic carbon content ranging from 0.39% to 2.2%) were irrigated regularly.…”

A field method for quantifying ammonium picrate and picric acid in soil

“…2 Picrate is also an environmental transformation product of tetryl (trinitro-2,4,6-phenylmethylnitramine), another obsolete military explosive. 3 Picrate was detected in a leachate from soil columns spiked with tetryl 4 and was detected as a transformation product of tetryl in water. 3,5 The production, toxicology, and environmental fate of ammonium picrate and its parent compound, picric acid, have been reported.…”

A Sustainable NATO/EU Partnership for the Future

“…A significant background of data has now been established for the alkaline hydrolysis of nitroaromatic, nitramine and nitrate ester energetic compounds: Arienzo (1999), Balakrishnan et al (2003), Croce and Okamoto (1979), Davis et al (2006, Emmrich (1999Emmrich ( , 2001), Epstein and Winkler (1951), Felt et al (2001aand b, 2002), Garg et al (1991, Hansen et al (2001), Heilmann et al (1994), Heilmann et al, (1996), Hoffsomer and Rosen, (1973), Hoffsommer et al (1977), HSDB 2001, Huang et al (2005, 2006, Kayser andBurlinson 1988, Saupe et al (1997), Saupe and Wiesmann (1996), Wu, 2001. The nitroaromatic compounds degrade the most rapidly, however the half-life for both TNT and RDX at pH >10.5 in soil has been determined to be < 1 day.…”

“…Field monitoring studies have indicated that the movement of tetryl through soil to groundwater may also be influenced by other factors such as soil pH (Kayser andBurlinson 1988, Hazardous Substance Data Bank (HSDB) 2001). Because tetryl is subject to photolysis in water, it may also be susceptible to photolysis on sunlit soil surfaces (HSDB 2001).…”