Dissertations and Theses @ UNI
Availability
Open Access Thesis
Keywords
In situ bioremediation--Virginia--Yorktown; Explosives--Biodegradation; In situ bioremediation; Soil pollution--Biodegradation; Soil remediation; Virginia--Yorktown;
Abstract
The production and disposal of hazardous substances has resulted in environment pollution and has become one of the most important issues in the United States. New technologies such as site bioremediation using microorganisms or microbial processes that enhance contaminant detoxification and destruction are being developed. This project assessed the success of bioremediation by a white rot fungus. The material tested was soil from Virginia site contaminated with a mixture of explosives (TNT, RDX, and HMX). The assays examined toxicity of soil eluates to several mammalian cell lines (Ll210, Jurkat, and U-937). Two separate assays were used and compared in the study: MTT and tritiated thymidine (3H-TdR) assays. A pilot study with pre-treatment eluates- March (ME) and April (AE)- and posttreatment eluates- Fraction 34 (Fr34) and Fraction 37 (Fr37)- was performed. A largescale field demonstration study also was conducted with the pre-treatment eluate referred to as Baseline (BL) and two post-treatment eluates- Pl (containing soil, added fungi, and bioremediation amendments) and P2 (containing soil and bioremediation amendments without additional fungi). Dose-response experiments using the MTT assay for both cross-sectional and individual comparisons with five different eluate dilutions showed that Fr34 was significantly less toxic to cells than either pre-treatment eluate, and that Fr37 was significantly more toxic to the cells than Fr34. Contrary to expectations, in the largescale field demonstration, the pre-treatment eluate BL exhibited less toxicity than post-treatment eluates Pl and P2. This result may have been due to toxic effect of amendments added to P 1 and P2 which were absent in the BL eluate. Comparison of MTT and 3 H-TdR assays revealed that the 3 H-TdR assay is less sensitive to differences between eluates than MTT and under some circumstances may give incorrect predictions about differences in toxicities of different eluates.
Year of Submission
1998
Degree Name
Master of Science
Department
Department of Biology
First Advisor
Lisa A. Beltz
Second Advisor
Kurt W. Ponstasch
Third Advisor
John A. Bumpus
Date Original
1998
Object Description
1 PDF file (82 leaves)
Copyright
©1998 Irina Yurievna Blinova
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Recommended Citation
Blinova, Irina Yurievna, "Toxicity of TNT, HMX, and RDX Degradation Products to Mammalian Cells before and after Bioremediation of Contaminated Soils" (1998). Dissertations and Theses @ UNI. 2097.
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/etd/2097
Comments
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