Ap. Toste et al., ORGANIC ANALYSES OF AN ACTUAL AND SIMULATED MIXED WASTE - HANFORDS ORGANIC COMPLEXANT WASTE REVISITED, Journal of radioanalytical and nuclear chemistry, 194(1), 1995, pp. 25-34
Reanalysis of the organics in a mixed waste, an organic complexant was
te from the U.S. Department of Energy's Hanford Site, has yielded an 8
0.4% accounting of the waste's total organic content In addition to se
veral complexing and chelating agents (citrate, EDTA, HEDTA and NTA),
38 chelator/complexor fragments have been identified, compared to only
11 in the original analysis, all presumably formed via organic,degrad
ation. Moreover, a misidentification, methanetricarboxylic acid has be
en re-identified as the chelator fragment N-(methylamine)imino- diacet
ic acid (MAIDA). A nonradioactive simulant of the actual waste, contai
ning the parent organics (citrate EDTA, HEDTA and NTA), was formulated
and stored in the dark at ambient temperature for 90 days. Twenty che
lator and complexor fragments were identified in the simulant, along w
ith several carboxylic acids, confirming that myriad chelator and comp
lexor fragments are formed via degradation of the parent organics. Mor
eover, their abundance in the simulant (60.9% of the organics identifi
ed) argues mat the harsh chemistries of mixed wastes like Hanford's or
ganic complexant waste ate more than enough to cause organic degradati
on, even in the absence of radiation.