A group of Scottish and Australian scientists came to a paradoxical conclusion that exploding mines where they are buried is less harmful to the environment than to neutralize them and take them for processing. This is reported by Naked Science with reference to a study in the journal PLoS One.

Scientists from the University of Dundee and the James Hutton Institute (both in Scotland), ChemCentre and John Curtin University in Australia measured the concentration in the soil of the minefields of TNT (Trinitrotoluene). TNT is the most common explosive used in anti-personnel landmines and other ammunition. The researchers compared the concentration of TNT in the soil where the solution of trinitrotoluene was bottled, and where explosions were conducted.

Six weeks after the introduction of TNT, the soil was much cleaner where the substance was blown up, and not where the solution was spilled. Scientists attribute this to the activity of bacteria that decompose toxic substances.

To confirm this version, scientists investigated the structure of the soil before and after the explosion. It turned out that the explosion crushed large fractions of the soil into smaller fractions and increased the porosity of the soil. This allows toxic explosives to percolate deeper, but at the same time gives access to air and oxygen breathing bacteria that decompose TNT to its less toxic metabolites.

If the territory was mined recently, it makes sense to disarm ammunition and remove them for later disposal, the authors write. But if mines or other munitions have been buried in the soil for several years and some of the TNT and other toxic substances have already leaked into the soil, the best way out may be an explosion that will loosen the soil and allow contaminants to be neutralized by soil bacteria. This method of disposal is safer and cheaper.

As of January 1, 2018, almost 26 thousand hectares of the territory of Donbass.

Source: LIGA.