Department Environmental Chemistry
Assessment of the Fate of Munition Constituents from Military Activities in Switzerland
Chemical contamination of soils, sediments, and water through military activities in Switzerland are of recurring public interest. Over the last decades, several investigations have elucidated the history of ammunition disposal in lakes and military activities over shooting and training ranges. Moreover, several field campaigns have been performed over different sites to quantify the environmental pollution with munition-related chemicals including nitroaromatics, nitramines, nitrate esters and related, N-containing compounds.
Nevertheless, a generalized assessment of the risks and hazards associated with munition constituents (MCs) in the environment for humans and ecosystems by today's standards is difficult because scope and methodologies of previous studies vary considerably. Several important factors require a systematic investigation such as the current state of aged munition casings, sampling strategies, the type and number of MCs to quantify and the type of analytical methods to be used.
In this project performed in collaboration with armasuisse Science and Technology, we aim at providing a contemporaneous assessment of MCs occurrence, mobility and reactivity under conditions prevailing at the contaminated sites in Switzerland.