TOXICITY OF EXPLOSIVES AND RELATED-COMPOUNDS TO THE LUMINESCENT BACTERIUM VIBRIO-FISCHERI NRRL-B-11177

Aqueous samples containing various explosives, their reduced metabolites, as well as related compounds were subjected to the luminescent bacterium Vibrio fischeri NRRL-B-11177 to determine their ecotoxicological potential. As the most important parameter, the EC(50) values of 24 test compounds were calculated. The EC(50) value means the concentration of a chemical compound that is needed to reduce bacterial luminescence by 50%. According to the widely accepted classification scheme of Strupp et al. (1990) and in consideration of an incubation period of 30 min (Deutsche Einheitsverfahren zur Wasser-, Abwasser-, und Schlammuntersuchung-Testverfahren mit Wasserorganismen; Gruppe L; DIN 38412, L34; DEV 1991) TNT, 26DNT, 2A6NT, 4A2NT, 34DNT, TNB, TNBA, TETRYL and HEXYL must be classified in the category ''very toxic to aquatic organisms''; 2A46DNT, 4A26DNT, 24DA6NT, 24DNT, 2A4NT, RDX, HMX and PETN must be classified in the category ''toxic to aquatic organisms''; and 26DA4NT, TAT, TNPh, 26DAT, 24DAT, HMT and NQ can be classified in the category ''less toxic to aquatic organisms''. ECS, values after 30, 60, and 90 min of incubation of the test compounds are presented and discussed. For many of the compounds tested in this study, there are no, or only a few, toxicological data in the literature available.