Treatment of TNT and Parathion Using Constructed Wetland Microcosms

This study was carried out to investigate the removal of TNT (2,4,6-trinitrotoluene) and parathion in the batch and the continuous constructed wetland microcosms consisting of marsh and pond. The batch system study showed that TNT was almost reduced in the marsh and pond system within 20 days and parathion was within 8 days. The major reductive metabolites of TNT includes 2,4-diamino-6-nitrotoluene (24DANT) >2,6-diamino-4-nitrotoluene (26DANT) >4-diamino-2,6-nitrotoluene(4ADNT) > 2-diamino-4,6-nitrotoluene (2ADNT), and the concentrations of these metabolites were decreased during further operation. The generation rates of 4-nitrophenol, the major metabolite of parathion, were 82% and 15% in the bottom of marsh and pond system, respectively. In the continuous system study, although TNT/parathion degradation pattern was similar to the batch's, marsh-pond system showed the most stable TNT/ parathion removal among various continuous reactor combinations.