[CPEO-MEF] MUNITIONS: Phytoremediation of TNT

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Mounting evidence shows native grasses could destroy explosives pollution

By SCOTT CANON
The Kansas City Star
June 15, 2009

COLUMBIA [MO] Besides the obvious reason, TNT is not good for you.

But grass, it turns out, might be dynamite for the problem.

TNT contaminates hundreds of sites, from military firing ranges to old 
production dumps to waterways, and poses a threat to the human nervous 
system and to the liver and kidneys. It's suspected to cause cancer. It 
can cause allergic reactions and attack the immune system, and it may 
lead to birth defects.

Left alone in the soil, TNT breaks down into an even more toxic substance.

If the problem is left in the dirt, maybe that's where the solution can 
grow.

Three Missouri researchers have hit on an idea that could potentially 
scrub away the TNT danger: Simply plant the right kind of grass.


...

For the entire article, see
http://www.kansascity.com/105/story/1253873.html

--


Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org


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