BIODEGRADATION & BIOACCUMULATION OF METALS FROM SURFACE TREATMENT WASTES

CHEMICALLY REMOVED SPENT AIRCRAFT METALS AND THEIR SALTS WHOSE WASTES ARE OF GREAT CONCERN TO THE AIR FORCE CAN INCLUDE CHROMIUM, COBALT, NICKEL, ALUMINUM, TITANIUM AND MAGNESIUM. ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS CONCERNING THE DISPOSAL OF THESE WASTE MATERIALS ARE BECOMING INCREASINGLY STRICT AND NEW PROCESSES MUST BE DEVELOPED WHICH ARE EFFICIENT AND COST-EFFECTIVE WHILE COMPLYING WITH EPA REGULATIONS. AT PRESENT, MOST OF THESE WASTE MATERIALS ARE LAND-FILLED OR INCINERATED. INCINERATION IS OFTEN CONSIDERED THE BEST DISPOSAL OPTION, WITH THE LOWEST LONG-TERM RISKS. BUT INCINERATION DOES NOT AMELIORATE THE NOW RECOGNIZED HAZARDS TO HUMAN HEALTH AND THE ENVIRONMENT. RESEARCHERS AT TECHNICAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATES, INCORPORATED (TRA), BELIEVE THAT AN INNOVATIVE BIOLOGICAL PROCESS WHICH DOES MINIMIZE THE WASTE PROBLEM COULD BE DEVELOPED. THE OPERATION WOULD BE TWO-FOLD; NONSOLUBLE, CHEMICALLY REMOVED, SPENT AIR CRAFT METAL SALTS WOULD BE DISSOLVED WITH A PATENTED TRA-MODIFIED ARCH AEBACTERIA ISOLATE. THESE SOLUTIONS AS WELL AS SOLUBLE SALT MIXTURES WOULD THEN BE ACCUMULATED VIA A TRA-HYBRIDIZED LEMNA MINOR ISOLATE. TRA BELIEVES THAT THIS COUPLED PROCESS, BASED ON PRIOR WORK, IS A VIABLE SYSTEM WHICH WOULD MITIGATE THE HAZARDOUS WASTE PROBLEM, IN A COST EFFECTIVE AND EFFICIENT MANNER.