Hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX) is a common soil contaminant at current and former military facilities, which impacts groundwater and drinking water at numerous locations. RDX contamination often occurs over expansive areas, making in situ or ex situ treatment technologies difficult to implement. One potential alternative for managing RDX sites is monitored natural attenuation (MNA), in which contaminants are controlled by natural processes, including biodegradation. However, one limitation of this approach for RDX is that biodegradation rates can be relatively slow under field conditions, making accurate rate measurements difficult. Compound-specific stable isotope analysis (CSIA) may overcome this limitation, because it allows measurements of slow degradation rates by measuring changes in the ratios of the stable isotopes of present in RDX, specifically the ratios of 15N/14N and 13C/12C.
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