The overlapping jurisdictions and differences in their corresponding waste management regulations make mixed wastes very difficult to manage. Current treatment options for addressing mixed waste problems focus on processes which destroy the hazardous organic compounds through some type of oxidation process, thereby producing a radioactive waste that is much easier to manage from a regulatory perspective. This paper discusses the results of a sequential chemical and biological process which has been used to destroy organic chelating agents, with subsequent precipitation of the metals from solution.
Chemical oxidation is followed by biological oxidation of degradation products.
The oxidation of EDTA has been demonstrated through the use of carbon-14 radiolabeled compounds. The effect of pH, temperature, dissolved gases, extraneous organic matter, and redox-active metal ions on this oxidation has been investigated. Assimilatory and dissimilatory degradation of the carbon-14 compounds has been determined, which provides further evidence in support of the efficacy of this process.