Release of Munitions Constituents in Aquatic Environments Under Realistic Scenarios and Validation of Polar Organic Chemical Integrative Samplers for Monitoring

Munitions constituents (MC) may be released into aquatic environments as a result of underwater military munitions (UWMM) corrosion and breach. The present study investigated the release of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) and hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX) from Composition B fragments under 2 realistic exposure scenarios in a large flume with flow set at 15 cm/s: the first represented the release of MC from fully exposed Composition B, and the second represented release through a small hole, simulating a breached munition. Release of MC through a small hole was approximately 10 times lower than from exposed Composition B, demonstrating the strong influence of exposure to flow on release. The rate of release of MC into the flume was similar to that previously reported in a related field experiment, but a similar mass loss resulted in MC concentration in the field >300 times lower, likely by the dilution effect of hydrodynamic transport. The present study corroborates previous findings of release of MC at UWMM sites resulting in concentrations below the toxicity threshold to most species. In the flume water, MC was quantified using frequent grab sampling and polar organic chemical integrative samplers (POCIS). For TNT, POCIS-estimated time-weighted average concentrations were up to 40% higher than those derived from grab samples, whereas for RDX differences were 6% or less, demonstrating that POCIS provide reliable temporal integration of changing environmental concentrations for common MC. Environ Toxicol Chem 2019;38:2383-2391. Published 2019 Wiley Periodicals Inc. on behalf of SETAC. This article is a US government work and, as such, is in the public domain in the United States of America.