Reduction in the Acute Toxicity of Explosive Wastewater Containing Toxic Nitroaromatic Compounds by a Nanoscale Zerovalent Iron Pretreatment Process

Liu, Guo-hua; Zhu, Shi-Ni; Ye, Zhengfang

Reduction in the Acute Toxicity of Explosive Wastewater Containing Toxic Nitroaromatic Compounds by a Nanoscale Zerovalent Iron Pretreatment Process

2012

Liu, Guo-hua | Zhu, Shi-Ni | Ye, Zhengfang

The feasibility of using nanoscale zerovalent iron (nZVI) treatment for reducing the acute toxicity of explosive wastewater, such as 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) red water which contains highly toxic nitroaromatic compounds (NACs), has been investigated. The water quality was evaluated before and after nZVI treatment using several different analytical techniques, including UV–Vis spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, high-performance liquid chromatography, and gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy. The acute toxicity of the wastewater was tested using a luminescence bacterium bioarray. The results indicated that the most significant toxic NACs, such as dinitrotoluene sulfonates, had been effectively removed from the TNT red water by nZVI together with the small amounts of other NACs. Following 1Â h of the nZVI processing treatment, the acute toxicity of the TNT wastewater was reduced by approximately 94Â %. This treatment would therefore be useful for the pretreatment of wastewaters prior to the application of a biological process. The reduction in the biotoxicity of the wastewater was based on the reductive conversion processes and adsorption behaviors of nZVI.

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