Environmental Fate and Transport of a New Energetic Material, CL-20

Abstract : CL-20 is an emerging munition compound that may replace RDX and HMX, but little information is available on its environmental fate and ecological impact. Therefore the present report first describes the development and validation of an analytical method to analyze CL-20 in soil and water and the determination of key physicochemical parameters such as Kow (82.6), solubility (3.87 mg/L) and sorption/desorption parameters (Kd, Koc) of the chemical under various conditions of aging, T, and pH. CL-20 is found to sorb strongly onto the organic fraction of soils, and that sorption is reversible and governed by the type of organic matter. Degradation of CL-20 was determined in different soil/water systems and degradation products, reaction kinetics and stoichiometry were determined using LC/MS and [15N]-CL-20. We found that initial denitration caused by either Fe(0), light, hydrolysis, bacteria, fungi and enzymes lead to the decomposition of CL-20 to give nitrite, ammonia, nitrous oxide, glyoxal and formic acid. Finally, CL-20 was found to be non toxic to algae, higher plants, and soil micro flora, but toxic to earthworms and quails.