Review of Submarine Escape Action Levels for Selected Chemicals
Review of Submarine Escape Action Levels for Selected Chemicals

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2002-02-04

Total Pages: 310

ISBN-13: 0309182689

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On-board fires can occur on submarines after events such as collision or explosion. These fires expose crew members to toxic concentrations of combustion products such as ammonia, carbon monoxide, hydrogen chloride, and hydrogen sulfide. Exposure to these substances at high concentrations may cause toxic effects to the respiratory and central nervous system; leading possible to death. T protect crew members on disabled submarines, scientists at the U.S. Navy Health Research Center's Toxicology Detachment have proposed two exposure levels, called submarine escape action level (SEAL) 1 and SEAL 2, for each substance. SEAL 1 is the maximum concentration of a gas in a disabled submarine below which healthy submariners can be exposed for up to 10 days without encountering irreversible health effects while SEAL 2 the maximum concentration of a gas in below which healthy submariners can be exposed for up to 24 hours without experiencing irreversible health effects. SEAL 1 and SEAL 2 will not impair the functions of the respiratory system and central nervous system to the extent of impairing the ability of crew members in a disabled submarine to escape, be rescued, or perform specific tasks. Hoping to better protect the safety of submariners, the chief of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery requested that the National Research Council (NRC) review the available toxicologic and epidemiologic data on eight gases that are likely to be produced in a disabled submarine and to evaluate independently the scientific validity of the Navy's proposed SEALs for those gases. The NRC assigned the task to the Committee on Toxicology's (COT's) Subcommittee on Submarine Escape Action Levels. The specific task of the subcommittee was to review the toxicologic, epidemiologic, and related data on ammonia, carbon monoxide, chlorine, hydrogen chloride, hydrogen cyanide, hydrogen sulfide, nitrogen dioxide, and sulfur dioxide in order to validate the Navy's proposed SEALs. The subcommittee also considered the implications of exposures at hyperbaric conditions and potential interactions between the eight gases. Review of Submarine Escape Action Levels for Selected Chemicals presents the subcommittee's findings after evaluation human data from experimental, occupational, and epidemiologic studies; data from accident reports; and experimental-animal data. The evaluations focused primarily on high-concentration inhalation exposure studies. The subcommittee's recommended SEALs are based solely on scientific data relevant to health effects. The report includes the recommendations for each gas as determined by the subcommittee as well as the Navy's original instructions for these substances.

Acute Exposure Guideline Levels for Selected Airborne Chemicals
Acute Exposure Guideline Levels for Selected Airborne Chemicals

Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2016-10-26

Total Pages: 195

ISBN-13: 0309449154

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Extremely hazardous substances can be released accidentally as a result of chemical spills, industrial explosions, fires, or accidents involving railroad cars and trucks transporting EHSs. Workers and residents in communities surrounding industrial facilities where these substances are manufactured, used, or stored and in communities along the nation's railways and highways are potentially at risk of being exposed to airborne EHSs during accidental releases or intentional releases by terrorists. Pursuant to the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has identified approximately 400 EHSs on the basis of acute lethality data in rodents. Acute Exposure Guideline Levels for Selected Airborne Chemicals, Volume 20 reviews and updates the technical support document on acute exposure guideline levels (AEGLs) for selected chloroformates. This update focuses on establishing AEGL-3 values for n-propyl chloroformate and isopropyl chloroformate, but will also consider whether any new data are available that would affect the proposed values for the other 10 chloroformates. AEGLs represent threshold exposure limits (exposure levels below which adverse health effects are not likely to occur) for the general public and are applicable to emergency exposures ranging from 10 minutes (min) to 8 h. Three levels - AEGL-1, AEGL-2, and AEGL-3 - are developed for each of five exposure periods (10 min, 30 min, 1 h, 4 h, and 8 h) and are distinguished by varying degrees of severity of toxic effects. This report will inform planning, response, and prevention in the community, the workplace, transportation, the military, and the remediation of Superfund sites.

Acute Exposure Guideline Levels for Selected Airborne Chemicals
Acute Exposure Guideline Levels for Selected Airborne Chemicals

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2012-05-24

Total Pages: 334

ISBN-13: 0309255015

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Extremely hazardous substances (EHSs) can be released accidentally as a result of chemical spills, industrial explosions, fires, or accidents involving railroad cars and trucks transporting EHSs. Workers and residents in communities surrounding industrial facilities where EHSs are manufactured, used, or stored and in communities along the nation's railways and highways are potentially at risk of being exposed to airborne EHSs during accidental releases or intentional releases by terrorists. Using the 1993 and 2001 NRC guidelines reports, the National Advisory Committee - consisting of members from the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Defense, the Department of Energy, the Department of Transportation, other federal and state governments, the chemical industry, academia, and other organizations form the private sector has developed Acute Exposure Guideline Levels (AEGL) for more than 270 EHSs. In 1998, the EPA and DOD requested that the NRC independently reviewed the AEGLs developed by the NAC. In response to that request, the NRC organized within its Committee on Toxicology the Committee on Acute Exposure Guideline Levels, which prepared this report, Acute Exposure Guideline Levels for Selected Airborne Chemicals: Volume 12. This report explains the scientifically valid conclusions that are based on the data reviewed by NAC and consistent with the NRC guideline reports and provides comments and recommendations for how AEGL could be improved.

Emergency and Continuous Exposure Guidance Levels for Selected Submarine Contaminants
Emergency and Continuous Exposure Guidance Levels for Selected Submarine Contaminants

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2008-06-09

Total Pages: 332

ISBN-13: 0309112737

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U.S. Navy personnel who work on submarines are in an enclosed and isolated environment for days or weeks at a time when at sea. To protect workers from potential adverse health effects due to those conditions, the U.S. Navy has established exposure guidance levels for a number of contaminants. In this latest report in a series, the Navy asked the National Research Council (NRC) to review, and develop when necessary, exposure guidance levels for 11 contaminants. The report recommends exposure levels for hydrogen that are lower than current Navy guidelines. For all other contaminants (except for two for which there are insufficient data), recommended levels are similar to or slightly higher than those proposed by the Navy. The report finds that, overall, there is very little exposure data available on the submarine environment and echoes recommendations from earlier NRC reports to expand exposure monitoring in submarines.

Acute Exposure Guideline Levels for Selected Airborne Chemicals
Acute Exposure Guideline Levels for Selected Airborne Chemicals

Author: Committee on Acute Exposure Guideline Levels

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2013-10-10

Total Pages: 229

ISBN-13: 0309291232

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Acute Exposure Guideline Levels for Selected Airborne Chemicals, Volume 15 identifies, reviews, and interprets relevant toxicologic and other scientific data for ethyl mercaptan, methyl mercaptan, phenyl mercaptan, tert-octyl mercaptan, lewisite, methyl isothiocyanate, and selected monoisocyanates in order to develop acute exposure guideline levels (AEGLs) for these high-priority, acutely toxic chemicals. AEGLs represent threshold exposure limits (exposure levels below which adverse health effects are not likely to occur) for the general public and are applicable to emergency exposures ranging from 10 minutes (min) to 8 h. Three level--AEGL-1, AEGL-2, and AEGL-3--are developed for each of five exposure periods (10 min, 30 min, 1 h, 4 h, and 8 h) and are distinguished by varying degrees of severity of toxic effects. This report will inform planning, response, and prevention in the community, the workplace, transportation, the military, and the remediation of Superfund sites.

Spacecraft Water Exposure Guidelines for Selected Contaminants
Spacecraft Water Exposure Guidelines for Selected Contaminants

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2008-11-21

Total Pages: 206

ISBN-13: 0309177952

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NASA maintains an active interest in the environmental conditions associated with living and working in spacecraft and identifying hazards that might adversely affect the health and well-being of crew members. Despite major engineering advances in controlling the spacecraft environment, some water and air contamination is inevitable. Several hundred chemical species are likely to be found in the closed environment of the spacecraft, and as the frequency, complexity, and duration of human space flight increase, identifying and understanding significant health hazards will become more complicated and more critical for the success of the missions. To protect space crews from contaminants in potable and hygiene water, NASA requested that the National Research Council NRC provide guidance on how to develop water exposure guidelines and subsequently review NASA's development of the exposure guidelines for specific chemicals. This book presents spacecraft water exposure guidelines (SWEGs) for antimony, benzene, ethylene glycol, methanol, methyl ethyl ketone, and propylene glycol.

Spacecraft Maximum Allowable Concentrations for Selected Airborne Contaminants
Spacecraft Maximum Allowable Concentrations for Selected Airborne Contaminants

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2008-12-24

Total Pages: 406

ISBN-13: 0309128447

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NASA is aware of the potential toxicologic hazards to crew that might be associated with prolonged spacecraft missions. Despite major engineering advances in controlling the atmosphere within spacecraft, some contamination of the air appears inevitable. NASA has measured numerous airborne contaminants during space missions. As the missions increase in duration and complexity, ensuring the health and well-being of astronauts traveling and working in this unique environment becomes increasingly difficult. As part of its efforts to promote safe conditions aboard spacecraft, NASA requested the National Research Council to develop guidelines for establishing spacecraft maximum allowable concentrations (SMACs) for contaminants and to review SMACs for various spacecraft contaminants to determine whether NASA's recommended exposure limits are consistent with the guidelines recommended by the committee. This book is the fifth volume in the series Spacecraft Maximum Allowable Concentrations for Selected Airborne Contaminants, and presents SMACs for acrolein, C3 to C8 aliphatic saturated aldehydes, C2 to C9 alkanes, ammonia, benzene, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, 1,2-dichloroethane, dimethylhydrazine, ethanol, formaldehyde, limonene, methanol, methylene dichloride, n-butanol, propylene glycol, toluene, trimethylsilanol, and xylenes.

Review of the Army's Technical Guides on Assessing and Managing Chemical Hazards to Deployed Personnel
Review of the Army's Technical Guides on Assessing and Managing Chemical Hazards to Deployed Personnel

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2004-09-03

Total Pages: 215

ISBN-13: 0309092213

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To guide mission planning, military decision makers need information on the health risks of potential exposures to individual soldiers and their potential impact on mission operations. To help with the assessment of chemical hazards, the U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine developed three technical guides for characterizing chemicals in terms of their risks to the mission and to the health of the force. The report reviews these guides for their scientific validity and conformance with current risk-assessment practices. The report finds that the military exposure guidelines are appropriate (with some modification) for providing force health protection, but that for assessing mission risk, a new set of exposure guidelines is needed that predict concentrations at which health effects would degrade the performance of enough soldiers to hinder mission accomplishment.

Review of the Department of Defense Research Program on Low-Level Exposures to Chemical Warfare Agents
Review of the Department of Defense Research Program on Low-Level Exposures to Chemical Warfare Agents

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2006-01-08

Total Pages: 122

ISBN-13: 0309100216

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Research related to chemical warfare agents (CWAs) has historically focused on life threatening battlefield effects caused by high level exposures to the agents, not effects associated with exposures to low concentrations of them. In this report, low level concentrations refers to exposures that may not have any immediate observed health effects, but may produce delayed health effects months or years later. Recently, there has been increased concern about the potential health effects of exposures to CWAs at low concentrations. This report reviews the Department of Defense's (DOD) Research Plan for obtaining toxicologic and other relevant data to assess risk to military personnel. The CWAs of concern include the following nerve and vesicant agents: tabun, sarin, soman, cyclosarin, VX, and sulfur mustard. The report discusses the health effects of exposure to low levels of these agents and provides guidance to DOD on appropriate risk assessment methods for assessing toxicologic risk to military personnel from low-level exposures to CWAs. The report concludes that DOD's Research Plan is well planned and many of the proposed research tasks are likely to provide valuable information to DOD in protecting military personnel.

Review of the Toxicologic and Radiologic Risks to Military Personnel from Exposures to Depleted Uranium During and After Combat
Review of the Toxicologic and Radiologic Risks to Military Personnel from Exposures to Depleted Uranium During and After Combat

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2008-06-06

Total Pages: 172

ISBN-13: 030911036X

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Since the 1980s, the U.S. military has used depleted uranium in munitions and in protective armor on tanks. Depleted uranium is a toxic heavy metal and is weakly radioactive. Concerns have been raised about the adverse health effects from exposure to depleted uranium that is aerosolized during combat. Some think it may be responsible for illnesses in exposed veterans and civilians. These concerns led the Army to commission a book, Depleted Uranium Aerosol Doses and Risks: Summary of U.S. Assessments, referred to as the Capstone Report that evaluates the health risks associated with depleted uranium exposure. This National Research Council book reviews the toxicologic, radiologic, epidemiologic, and toxicokinetic data on depleted uranium, and assesses the Army's estimates of health risks to personnel exposed during and after combat. The book recommends that the Army re-evaluate the basis for some of its predictions about health outcomes at low levels of exposure, but, overall, the Capstone Report was judged to provide a reasonable characterization of the exposure and risks from depleted uranium.