Screening concentrations for ecotoxicological assessment of soils contaminated with explosives residues

Many sites associated with ongoing environmental input of munition residues in Eastern Europe and the Middle East, as well as those that involve munition manufacturing, disposal, testing, and training, contain elevated levels of explosives, propellants, and related energetic materials (EM) in soil. We developed, compiled, and reviewed the ecotoxicological benchmarks to establish scientifically defensible soil invertebrate-based and terrestrial plant-based soil-screening concentrations (SSC) for eleven EMs and common transformation products. These SSCs were derived using concentrations that produced 20% effect-level toxicity benchmarks for the effects of each EM as a contaminant in soil on invertebrate reproduction or plant growth endpoints, which were determined in standardized toxicity tests. These SSC values have been proposed to screen site-soil data to identify explosives residues that are not of potential ecological concern and do not need to be considered in the baseline ecological risk assessment, which will result in significant cost savings during site assessments. These SSCs will also provide an indispensable tool for installation managers to gauge the ecotoxicological impacts of military operations that involve the use of explosives and other EMs, which ultimately promote the sustainable use of testing and training ranges.