Accession Number:

ADA230182

Title:

Development of a Simplified Field Method for the Determination of TNT in Soil

Descriptive Note:

Special rept.

Corporate Author:

COLD REGIONS RESEARCH AND ENGINEERING LAB HANOVER NH

Personal Author(s):

• Jenkins, Thomas F.

Report Date:

1990-11-01

Pagination or Media Count:

25.0

Abstract:

A simple field method was developed for determining the concentration of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene TNT in soil. The method involves extraction of the soil with acetone, generation of the red-colored Jackson-Meisenheimer anion by addition of potassium hydroxide and sodium sulfite, and measurement of color intensity at 540 nm using a battery-operated spectrophotometer. The extraction step recovered a mean of 96 of the TNT recoverable by a more exhaustive laboratory extraction procedure. A comparison was made of concentration estimates from the field method with those from the standard RP-HPLC laboratory procedure using a set of field-contaminated soils. The method was field tested at Umatilla Army Depot and found to provide a simple, rapid method for estimating TNT concentrations in the field. Concentration estimates from field analysis correlated well with laboratory analyses of the same samples.

Descriptors:

• *SOILS
• SULFITES
• INTENSITY
• SODIUM
• SUPPLY DEPOTS
• COLORS
• CONCENTRATION(COMPOSITION)
• LABORATORY PROCEDURES
• EXTRACTION
• ACETONES
• SIMPLIFICATION
• DETERMINATION
• TNT
• HYDROXIDES
• POTASSIUM COMPOUNDS
• ELECTRIC BATTERIES
• SPECTROPHOTOMETERS
• LABORATORY TESTS
• ARMY FACILITIES

Subject Categories:

• Solid Wastes and Pollution and Control

Distribution Statement:

APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE