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Standing Committee on Program and Technical Review of the U.S. Army Chemical and Biological Defense Command
FRANCIS G. DWYER (chair),
Mobil Research and Development Corporation (retired), West Chester, Pennsylvania
JEROME S. SCHULTZ (vice chair),
University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
KLAUS BIEMANN,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge
HAROLD S. BLACKMAN,
Lockheed Martin Idaho Technologies Company, Idaho Falls, Idaho
BARBARA G. CALLAHAN,
Fluor Daniel GTI, Norwood, Massachusetts
JAMES M. CARUTHERS,
Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana
CLEMENT E. FURLONG,
University of Washington, Seattle
JEAN H. FUTRELL,
University of Delaware, Newark
BERNARD D. GOLDSTEIN,
Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, New Jersey
MICHAEL T. KLEIN,
University of Delaware, Newark
SANFORD S. LEFFINGWELL, HLM Consultants,
Dacula, Georgia
MAJOR GENERAL WILLIAM L. MOORE, JR.,
U.S. Army (retired), Nashville, Tennessee
DEREK L. RANSLEY,
Chevron Research and Technology Company (retired), Richmond, California
LUDWIG REBENFELD,
TRI Princeton, Princeton, New Jersey
WILLIAM REIFENRATH,
Reifenrath Consulting & Research, Richmond, California
K. ANNE STREET,
DynCorp, Reston, Virginia
J. THROCK WATSON,
Michigan State University, East Lansing
Board on Army Science and Technology Liaison
CHRISTOPHER C. GREEN,
General Motors Corporation, Warren, Michigan
Army Liaisons
MAJOR GENERAL GEORGE E. FRIEL,
U.S. Army Chemical and Biological Defense Command (CBDCOM), Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland
JOSEPH VERVIER,
U.S. Army Edgewood Research, Development and Engineering Center, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland
JAMES BAKER,
U.S. Army Edgewood Research, Development and Engineering Center, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland
Staff
BRUCE A. BRAUN, Director,
Board on Army Science and Technology
ERIC SHIMOMURA, Senior Program Officer (to March 1997)
GEORGE DAVATELIS, Senior Program Officer
JACQUELINE A. CAMPBELL-JOHNSON, Senior Program Assistant
BOARD ON ARMY SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
CHRISTOPHER C. GREEN (chair),
General Motors Corporation, Warren, Michigan
WILLIAM H. FORSTER (vice chair),
Northrop Grumman Corporation, Baltimore, Maryland
ROBERT A. BEAUDET,
University of Southern California, Los Angeles
GARY L. BORMAN,
University of Wisconsin, Madison
LAWRENCE J. DELANEY,
Delaney Group, Inc., Potomac, Maryland
MARYE ANNE FOX,
University of Texas, Austin
ROBERT J. HEASTON,
Guidance and Control Information Analysis Center (retired), Chicago, Illinois
KATHRYN V. LOGAN,
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta
THOMAS McNAUGHER, RAND,
Washington, D.C.
NORMAN F. PARKER, Varian Associates (retired),
Cardiff by the Sea, California
STEWART D. PERSONICK,
Bell Communications Research, Inc., Morristown, New Jersey
M. FRANK ROSE,
Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama
HARVEY W. SCHADLER,
General Electric Corporation (retired), Schenectady, New York
CLARENCE G. THORNTON,
Army Research Laboratories (retired), Colts Neck, New Jersey
JOHN D. VENABLES,
Venables & Associates, Towson, Maryland
ALLEN C. WARD,
Ward Synthesis, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan
Staff
BRUCE A. BRAUN, Director
MARGO L. FRANCESCO, Administrative Associate
ALVERA V. GIRCYS, Financial Associate
PAMELA A. LEWIS, Project Assistant
Preface
This report is the first of a two-phase response to a request from the technical director of the U.S. Army Edgewood Research, Development and Engineering Center (RDEC) that the National Research Council's (NRC) U.S. Army Chemical and Biological Defense Command Standing Committee (CSC) conduct technical assessments and program reviews within the command. Specifically, the CSC was asked to conduct a technical assessment of the man-in-simulant test (MIST) program and a program review of the mass spectrometry and bioremediation programs. These programs represent a continuum of technologies designed to protect, detect, and dispose of chemical and biological weapons that soldiers may face in future combat. This report focuses on the technical assessment of the MIST program.
Members of the CSC have a wide range of expertise in chemical engineering, chemistry and biochemistry, toxicology and risk assessment, simulation and modeling, bioremediation of chemical warfare agents, physical chemistry and mass spectrometry, medicine, chemical modeling, epidemiology and industrial hazards, and military science. Members of the committee whose expertise was relevant to reviewing the MIST program were chosen to serve on the review panel. The panel met three times between October 1996 and April 1997 and heard testimony from several Army research and development experts, including representatives from the Edgewood RDEC, the U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine, the Natick RDEC, and Dugway Proving Ground, in Utah, where the tests are conducted.
In this report, the committee documents the methodology used by the Army to test protective suit ensembles and analyze data. The committee carefully considered the best way to present its findings
and organize the report, given the critical nature of the MIST program and its ramifications for Army personnel. The problem is complicated by the fact that the Edgewood RDEC is faced with operating in an environment of constrained defense budgets and reductions in military and civilian personnel. The Edgewood RDEC's workforce has been reduced by 20 percent since 1990, and the U.S. Army Material Command projects another 15 percent reduction by 2000. Funding that had been earmarked for defense research and development is also being transferred to military operations. These reductions in personnel and funding will require that priorities be precisely determined and that data be generated efficiently. To that end, the technical director of the Edgewood RDEC requested that the NRC provide expert, independent technical advice and counsel on selected aspects of the nuclear, biological, and chemical research, development, and acquisition program. The chair and the committee wish to express their gratitude for the staff assistance and support provided by the NRC. We are indebted to Bruce Braun, director, Board on Army Science and Technology; George Davatelis, study director; Jacqueline Campbell-Johnson, senior project assistant; Margo Francesco, staff associate; Alvera Gircys, financial associate; and William Holm, consultant. The work of the committee would not have been possible without these dedicated individuals. The committee also appreciates the comments and written submissions of the various groups who provided testimony and written material; Virginia Gildengorin, for reviewing the data analysis procedures; and the group of outside experts who graciously donated their time to review this report.
Francis G. Dwyer, chair
Standing Committee on Program and Technical Review of the U.S. Army Chemical and Biological Defense Command
Tables and Figures
TABLES
2-1 |
Techniques for Evaluating Protective Clothing |
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2-2 |
Estimated Topical Dose of VX That Would Cause a 70 Percent Depression in Red Blood Cell Cholinesterase in a 70-kg Human |
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2-3 |
Parameters for Local Body Region Hazard Analysis |
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2-4 |
Ranking of Protective Ensembles by Local Effective Ct |
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2-5 |
Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) on Loge (Local Effective Ct) of Protective Ensembles |
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2-6 |
Ranking of Protective Ensembles by Systemic Effective Ct |
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2-7 |
Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) on Loge (Systemic Ct) of Protective Ensembles |
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2-8 |
Comparison of Total Mass of Methyl Salicylate Collected in Passive Samplers versus Geometric Mean of Local Effective Ct (Local Analysis for Mustard Gas) |
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3-1 |
Characteristics of Chemical Agents and Methyl Salicylate |
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5-1 |
Regional Variations in Human Skin Permeability as a Function of Test Substance |
FIGURES
Acronyms
ANOVA
analysis of variance
BRHA
body region hazard analysis
CB
chemical and/or biological agent
CBDCOM
U.S. Army Chemical and Biological Defense Command
CPE
chemical protective ensemble
CSC
CBDCOM Standing Committee
Ct
concentration x time
CWA
chemical warfare agent
GA
nerve agent (chemical warfare agent)
GB
nerve agent (chemical warfare agent)
H or HD
mustard, blister agent (chemical warfare agent)
HDPE
high-density polyethylene
MeS
methyl salicylate
MIRANS
miniature infrared analyzers
MIST
man-in-simulant test
NBC
nuclear, biological, and chemical
NRC
National Research Council
PF
protection factor
RDEC
Research, Development and Engineering Center
VX
nerve agent (chemical warfare agent)
WBEE
whole body effective exposure