2,4,6-Trinitrotoluene Mineralization and Incorporation by Natural Bacterial Assemblages in Coastal Ecosystems

摘要

Because of logistical and technical challenges to studying energetics in coastal environments, lab and terrestrial data are often extrapolated to aquatic field sites. We found measurable TNT mineralization rates from natural microbial assemblages in several coastal ecosystems unlikely to have a history of exposure to energetics. During nine sampling events in coastal waterways from 2002 to 2010, we measured TNT mineralization rates in surface sediment and water samples that were often the same order of magnitude as the rate of total heterotrophic bacterial metabolism. These rates were often similar to those of other organic compounds that are transient in natural ecosystems such as petroleum hydrocarbons and amino acids - due to their use in bacterial metabolism.