Toxicological evaluation for bioremediation processes of TNT-contaminated soil by Salmonella mutagenicity assay

Abstract

This research was performed to evaluate the toxicity for composting and slurry phase bioreactor processes of TNT (2,4,6-trinitrotoluene)-contaminated soils by Salmonella mutagenicity assay. For composting, the percentage reductions of final composts in strain TA98 and TA100 with S9 metabolic activation were 90.3–93.7% and 96.7–97.5%, respectively. For slurry phase bioreactor processes, the percentage reductions of final residuals in strain TA98 and TA100 with S9 metabolic activation were 95.0% and 99.1% for anaerobic, 96.2% and 99.2% for anaerobic/aerobic, and 96.6 and 97.4% for anaerobic treatment. Slurry phase treatment showed higher mutagenicity reduction than composting. It was implied that slurry phase treatment was a more effective process than composting in reducing toxicity. This research has the advantage of speed and ease of performance in comparison to testing of other higher life forms due to the shorter life cycles of microorganisms.