Agro waste as immobilization carrier for in situ remediation of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene contaminated soil

In light of global challenge of environmental sustainability, it has become imperative to devise techniques for eco-friendly remediation of hazardous compounds. 2,4,6-Trintro toluene (TNT) is one such hazardous explosive compound finding application in defence and civilian sectors. In this study, we explore the efficiency of Janibacter cremeus an indigenous bacteria, immobilized on biowaste from agriculture sector, viz, cocopeat and waste egg shells for degrading TNT in soil. Preliminary evaluation on tolerance of the bacteria to TNT in aqueous phase revealed maximum degradation at 60 mg/l. Agrowaste used as carrier was found to enhance the bioavailability of explosive to microbe and enhanced the remediation of the explosive compound. Remediation of TNT was carried out under unsaturated as well as saturated conditions. It was observed that, TNT was degraded efficiently in both conditions (98 and 99 % respectively). Saturated conditions prove to be better due to the disappearance of the intermediates formed by the end of the study (35 days). Both the conditions exhibited release of nitrite in initial stages, followed by its uptake. Also, the microbial activity in both the conditions were monitored in terms of live cell count and bulk enzyme activity. Saturated treatment sets showed higher live cell count as well as enzyme activity in comparison to the unsaturated treatment sets. The maximum microbial growth was observed at day 21 followed by its decrease later. The biowaste based bioformulation was observed to be a sustainable solution for remediation of TNT contaminated soil. (C)& nbsp;2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.& nbsp;& nbsp;