• The Toxicity Assessment of Explosives Contaminated Soil using Soil Microbial Activity Tests
  • Kim, Moonkyung;Jung, Jae-Woong;Nam, Kyoungphile;
  • Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering, Seoul National University;National Instrumentation Center for Environmental Management, College of Agriculture and Life Science, Seoul National University;Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering, Seoul National University;
  • 토양효소활성 측정법을 이용한 화약류 오염토양 독성평가
  • 김문경;정재웅;남경필;
  • 서울대학교 공과대학 건설환경공학부;서울대학교 농생명과학대학 농생명과학공동기기원;서울대학교 공과대학 건설환경공학부;
Abstract
This study was conducted to determine the toxic effect of TNT and RDX on indigenous soil microbes by measuring enzymatic activity. Denitrification activity, dehydrogenase activity, phosphatase activity, and fluorescein diacetate hydrolytic activity were determined for military firing range, field, and paddy soils exposed to TNT, and RDX from 0 to 1,000 mg/kg and 0 to 4,000 mg/kg, respectively, for 2, 4, and 8 weeks. Soil microbial enzymatic activities decreased with higher TNT and RDX concentration and longer exposure time. Microbial enzymatic activities of firing range soil were higher than field and paddy soils, indicating that indigenous microbes in firing range might have been adapted to TNT and RDX due to pre-exposure of the explosives. In addition, the toxicity of TNT and RDX decreased with higher organic matter because TNT and RDX tend to absorb to soil organic matter. No Observable Effect Concentration (NOEC) values of each microbial enzymatic activity were derived by the geometric mean of NOECs from exposure times (2, 4, and 8 weeks) and soil types (firing range, field, paddy soil). The derived NOECs ranged from 45.3 to 55.2 mg/kg for TNT and 286 to 309 mg/kg for RDX.

Keywords: Soil microbial activity;TNT;RDX;Toxicity;NOEC;

References
  • 1. ASTM, 1997, Standard guide for conducting laboratory soil toxicity or bioaccumulation tests with the Lumbricid earthworm Eisenia fetida. Method E1676-97; West Conshohocken, PA.
  •  
  • 2. ATSDR, 1995, Toxicological profile for 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, US department of health and human services, Atlanta, Georgia.
  •  
  • 3. ATSDR, 2012, Toxicological profile for RDX, US department of health and human services, Atlanta, Georgia.
  •  
  • 4. Frische, M.E., 2002, Screening for soil toxicity and mutagenicity using luminescent bacteria-a case study of the explosive 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT). Ecotoxicol. Environ. Saf., 51, 133-144.
  •  
  • 5. Gong, P, Siciliano, S.D., Greer, C.W., Paquet, L., Hawari, J., and Sunahara, G.I., 1999, Effects and bioavailability of 2, 4, 6trinitrotoluene in spiked and fieldcontaminated soils to indigenous microorganisms. Environ. Toxicol. Chem., 18(12), 2681-2688.
  •  
  • 6. Gong, P., Hawari, J., Thiboutot, S., Ampleman, G., and Sunahara, G.I., 2002, Toxicity of Octahydro-1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazocine (HMX) to soil microbes, Environ. Contam. Toxicol., 69, 97-103
  •  
  • 7. ISO, 2012, Soil Quality-Effects of pollutants on earthworms (Eisenia fetida fetida, E. fetida Andrei), ISO DIS 11268, Geneva, Switzerland.
  •  
  • 8. KMOE, 2009, Research on military environment management and its development.
  •  
  • 9. Li, A.Z., Marx, K.A., Walter, J., and Kaplan, D.L., 1997, Trinitro-toluene and metabolites binding to humic acid, Environ. Sci. Technol, 31, 584-589.
  •  
  • 10. Mark, E. and John, Manning, Jr. F., 1998, Evidence for differential effects of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene and other munitions compounds on specific subpopulations of soil microbial communities, Environ. Toxicol. Chem., 17(11), 2185-2195.
  •  
  • 11. OECD, 1993, Earthworm, acute toxicity tests. In Guideline of the OECD for Testing Chemical Products, Paris, France.
  •  
  • 12. Schnurer, J. and Rosswall, T., 1982, Fluorescein diacetate hydrolysis as a measure of total microbial activity in soil and litter, Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 43(6), 1256-1261.
  •  
  • 13. Siciliano, R. Steven D. Roy, C.W. Greer., 2000, Reduction in denitrification activity in field soils exposed to long term contamination by 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT), FEMS Microbiol. Ecol., 32, 61-68.
  •  
  • 14. Skujins, J., 1973, Dehydrogenase: an indicator of biological activities in arid soils, Bull. Ecol. Res. Comm., NFR, 17, 235-241.
  •  
  • 15. Sunahara, G.I., Dodard, S., Sarrazin, M., Paquet, L., Ampleman, G., Thiboutot, S., Hawari, J., and Renoux, A.Y., 1998, Development of a soil extraction procedure for ecotoxicity characterization of energetic compounds, Ecotox. Environ. Saf. 39, 185-194.
  •  
  • 16. Swartjes, F.A., Rutgers, M., Lijzen, J.P.A., Janssen, P.J.C.M., Otte, P.F., Wintersen, A., Brand, E., and Posthuma, L., 2012, State of the art of contaminated site management in The Netherlands: Policy framework and risk assessment tools, Sci. Total Environ., 427-428, 1-10.
  •  
  • 17. Tan, E.L., Ho, C.H., Griest, W.H., and Tyndall, R.L., 1992, Mutagenicity of trinitrotoluene and its metabolites formed during composting, J. Toxicol. Environ. Health, 36:3, 165-175.
  •  
  • 18. Van Straalen, N.M., 2002, Theory of ecological risk assessment based on species sensitivity distributions. In: Species Sensitivity Distributions in Ecotoxicology, Posthuma, L., Suter G. W. & Traas, T. P., Lewis Publishers, CRC Press.
  •  
  • 19. Weaver, R.W., Angle, J.S., and Bottonley, P.S., 1965, Methods of Soil Analysis. Part 2. Chemical and Microbiological Properties, SSSA Book Series Series 5, Eds. A.L. Page and R.H. Miller., American Society of Agronomy, Madison, WI.
  •  

This Article

  • 2015; 20(6): 37-45

    Published on Nov 30, 2015

  • 10.7857/JSGE.2015.20.6.037
  • Received on Oct 2, 2015
  • Revised on Nov 10, 2015
  • Accepted on Nov 28, 2015