MONITORING DEGRADATION PROCESSES OF EXPLOSIVES BY HPLC ANALYSIS WITH UV AND AMPEROMETRIC DETECTION

The impact of spilled explosives, their by-products and degradation pr oducts on human beings and the environment has been recognised as a se rious problem at areas of existing and former ammunition plants. In na ture, aerobic and anaerobic degradation processes of explosives and th eir accompanying compounds yield polar contaminants with relatively hi gh water solubilities. Most are potentially carcinogenic and mutagenic . An HPLC method applying UV-detection for nitroaromatic compounds and amperometric detection for aminoaromatic and phenolic compounds was u sed for monitoring the degradation of explosives in a polluted groundw ater sample under natural conditions. Analysis was performed by direct injection of aliquots of the sample after exposition to daylight for different periods of time.