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NOTICE The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
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Copyright 1997 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America.
Subcommittee on the Assessment of Military Smokes and Obscurants
MICHELE A. MEDINSKY (Chair),
Chemical Industry Institute of Toxicology, Research Triangle Park, N.C.
DEBORAH A. CORY-SLECHTA,
University of Rochester School of Medicine, Rochester, N.Y.
CHARLES E. FEIGLEY,
University of South Carolina School of Public Health, Columbia, S.C.
DONALD E. GARDNER,
Inhalation Toxicology Associates, Raleigh, N.C.
SIDNEY GREEN,
Corning Hazelton, Inc., Vienna, Va.
ROGENE F. HENDERSON,
Lovelace Biomedical and Environmental Research Institute, Albuquerque, N.Mex.
CAROLE A. KIMMEL,
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C.
Staff
KULBIR S. BAKSHI, Program Director for the
Committee on Toxicology
MARGARET M. MCVEY, Project Director
RUTH E. CROSSGROVE, Editor
CATHERINE M. KUBIK, Senior Program Assistant
LINDA V. LEONARD, Senior Project Assistant
LUCY V. FUSCO, Program Assistant
Sponsor: U.S. Department of Defense
Committee on Toxicology
ROGENE F. HENDERSON (Chair),
Lovelace Biomedical and Environmental Research Institute, Albuquerque, N.Mex.
DONALD E. GARDNER (Vice-Chair),
Inhalation Toxicology Associates, Raleigh, N.C.
GERMAINE M. BUCK,
State University of New York at Buffalo, N.Y.
DEBORAH A. CORY-SLECHTA,
University of Rochester, N.Y.
KEVIN E. DRISCOLL,
Procter & Gamble Company, Cincinnati, Ohio
ELAINE M. FAUSTMAN,
University of Washington, Seattle, Wash.
CHARLES E. FEIGLEY,
University of South Carolina, Columbia, S.C.
DAVID W. GAYLOR,
U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Jefferson, Ark.
IAN A. GREAVES,
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minn.
SIDNEY GREEN,
Corning Hazleton, Inc., Vienna, Va.
WILLIAM E. HALPERIN,
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Atlanta, Ga.
LOREN D. KOLLER,
Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oreg.
GEORGE B. KOELLE,
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pa.
DANIEL KREWSKI,
Health Canada, Ottawa, Ontario
THOMAS E. MCKONE,
University of California, Berkeley, Calif.
MICHELE A. MEDINSKY,
Chemical Industry Institute of Toxicology, Research Triangle Park, N.C.
JOHN L. O'DONOGHUE,
Eastman Kodak Company, Rochester, N.Y.
ROBERT SNYDER,
Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, Piscataway, N.J.
BERNARD M. WAGNER,
Wagner Associates, Inc., Millburn, N.J.
BAILUS WALKER JR.,
Howard University, Washington, D.C.
ANNETTA P. WATSON,
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tenn.
HANSPETER R. WITSCHI,
University of California, Davis, Calif.
GAROLD S. YOST,
University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah
Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology
PAUL G. RISSER (Chair),
Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oreg.
MAY R. BERENBAUM,
University of Illinois, Urbana, III.
EULA BINGHAM,
University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio
PAUL BUSCH,
Malcolm Pirnie, Inc., White Plains, N.Y.
EDWIN H. CLARK II,
Clean Sites, Inc., Alexandria, Va.
ELLIS COWLING,
North Carolina State University, Raleigh, N.C.
GEORGE P. DASTON,
The Procter & Gamble Co., Cincinnati, Ohio
PETER L. DEFUR,
Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Va.
David L. Eaton,
University of Washington, Seattle, Wash.
DIANA FRECKMAN,
Colorado State University, Ft. Collins, Colo.
ROBERT A. FROSCH,
Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.
DANIEL KREWSKI,
Health & Welfare Canada, Ottawa, Ontario
RAYMOND C. LOEHR,
The University of Texas, Austin, Tex.
WARREN MUIR,
Hampshire Research Institute, Alexandria, Va.
GORDON ORIANS,
University of Washington, Seattle, Wash.
GEOFFREY PLACE,
Hilton Head, S.C.
BURTON H. SINGER,
Princeton University, Princeton, N.J.
MARGARET STRAND,
Bayh, Connaughton and Malone, Washington, D.C.
BAILUS WALKER, JR.,
Howard University, Washington, D.C.
GERALD N. WOGAN,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass.
TERRY F. YOSIE,
E. Bruce Harrison Co., Washington, D.C.
Staff
JAMES J. REISA, Director
DAVID J. POLICANSKY, Associate Director and Program Director for Natural Resources and Applied Ecology
CAROL A. MACZKA, Program Director for Toxicology and Risk Assessment
LEE R. PAULSON, Program Director for Information Systems and Statistics
RAYMOND A. WASSEL, Program Director for Environmental Sciences and Engineering
Commission on Life Sciences
THOMAS D. POLLARD (Chair),
The Salk Institute, La Jolla, Calif.
FREDERICK R. ANDERSON,
Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, Washington, D.C.
JOHN C. BAILAR III,
University of Chicago, Chicago, III.
PAUL BERG,
Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, Calif.
JOHN E. BURRIS,
Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Mass.
SHARON L. DUNWOODY,
University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisc.
URSULA W. GOODENOUGH,
Washington University, St. Louis, Mo.
HENRY W. HEIKKINEN,
University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, Colo.
HANS J. KENDE,
Michigan State University, East Lansing, Mich.
SUSAN E. LEEMAN,
Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Mass.
THOMAS E. LOVEJOY,
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
DONALD R. MATTISON,
University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pa.
JOSEPH E. MURRAY,
Wellesley Hills, Mass.
EDWARD E. PENHOET,
Chiron Corporation, Emeryville, Calif.
EMIL A. PFITZER,
Research Institute for Fragrance Materials, Hackensack, N.J.
MALCOLM C. PIKE,
University of Southern California, Los Angeles, Calif.
HENRY C. PITOT III,
University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisc.
JONATHAN M. SAMET,
The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md.
CHARLES F. STEVENS,
The Salk Institute, La Jolla, Calif.
JOHN L. VANDEBERG,
Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research, San Antonio, Tex.
PAUL GILMAN, Executive Director
Other Recent Reports of the Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology
Carcinogens and Anticarcinogens in the Human Diet: A Comparison of Naturally Occurring Synthetic and Natural Substances (1996)
Upstream: Salmon and Society in the Pacific Northwest (1996)
Science and the Endangered Species Act (1995)
Wetlands: Characteristics and Boundaries (1995)
Biologic Markers (Urinary Toxicology (1995), Immunotoxicology (1992), Environmental Neurotoxicology (1992), Pulmonary Toxicology (1989), Reproductive Toxicology (1989))
Review of EPA's Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (three reports, 1994-1995)
Science and Judgment in Risk Assessment (1994)
Ranking Hazardous Sites for Remedial Action (1994)
Pesticides in the Diets of Infants and Children (1993)
Issues in Risk Assessment (1993)
Setting Priorities for Land Conservation (1993)
Protecting Visibility in National Parks and Wilderness Areas (1993)
Dolphins and the Tuna Industry (1992)
Environmental Neurotoxicology (1992)
Hazardous Materials on the Public Lands (1992)
Science and the National Parks (1992)
Animals as Sentinels of Environmental Health Hazards (1991)
Assessment of the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf Environmental Studies Program, Volumes I-IV (1991-1993)
Human Exposure Assessment for Airborne Pollutants (1991)
Monitoring Human Tissues for Toxic Substances (1991)
Rethinking the Ozone Problem in Urban and Regional Air Pollution (1991)
Decline of the Sea Turtles (1990)
Tracking Toxic Substances at Industrial Facilities (1990)
Copies of these reports may be ordered from the National Academy Press (800) 624-6242 or (202) 334-3313
Other Recent Reports of the Committee on Toxicology
Toxicity of Alternatives to Chlorofluorocarbons: HFC-134a and HCFC-123 (1996)
Permissible Exposure Levels for Selected Military Fuel Vapors (1996)
Spacecraft Maximum Allowable Concentrations for Selected Airborne Contaminants, Volume I (1994), Volume 2 (1996), and Volume 3 (1996)
Nitrate and Nitrite in Drinking Water (1995)
Guidelines for Chemical Warfare Agents in Military Field Drinking Water (1995)
Review of the U.S. Naval Medical Research Institute's Toxicology Program (1994)
Health Effects of Permethrin-Impregnated Army Battle-Dress Uniforms (1994)
Health Effects of Ingested Fluoride (1993)
Guidelines for Developing Community Emergency Exposure Levels for Hazardous Substances (1993)
Guidelines for Developing Spacecraft Maximum Allowable Concentrations for Space Station Contaminants (1992)
Review of the U.S. Army Environmental Hygiene Agency Toxicology Division (1991)
Permissible Exposure Levels and Emergency Exposure Guidance Levels for Selected Airborne Contaminants (1991)
Preface
U.S. ARMY personnel are exposed to various smokes and other obscurants during combat training. This report is intended to assist the Army in its efforts to ensure that exposures to these substances do not adversely effect the health of military personnel or the public living and working near military-training facilities. In this report, the National Research Council's Subcommittee on Military Smokes and Obscurants reviews the available toxicity data on four obscuring smokes—fog oil, diesel fuel, red phosphorus, and hexachloroethane—and develops exposure guidance levels for each.
The subcommittee was greatly assisted by several individuals who provided information on the uses and toxicity of the smokes considered in this report. We gratefully acknowledge Colonel Francis L. O'Donnell, Major James Martin, Lieutenant Colonel Forrest Oliverson, and the Office of the Surgeon General of the U.S. Army for their interest and support of this project. We also thank other persons who provided information for the subcommittee, including Winnifred Palmer, Sandra Thomson, Stephen Kistner, and Michael Burnham (all from the U.S. Army), Ian Greaves (University of Minnesota), David Gaylor (U.S. Food and Drug Administration), and Catherine Aranyi (IIT Research Institute).
We are grateful for the assistance of the NRC staff in the
preparation of this report. In particular, the subcommittee wishes to acknowledge Kulbir S. Bakshi, program director for the Committee on Toxicology, and Margaret E. McVey, project director for the subcommittee. Other staff members who contributed to this effort are Paul Gilman, executive director of the Commission on Life Sciences; James J. Reisa, director of the Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology; Carol A. Maczka, program director for toxicology and risk assessment; Ruth E. Crossgrove, editor; and Lucy Fusco and Linda V. Leonard, project assistants.
Finally, we would like to thank all the members of the subcommittee for their expertise and dedicated effort throughout development of this report.
Michele A. Medinsky, Ph.D.
Chair, Subcommittee on Military Smokes and Obscurants
Rogene F. Henderson, Ph.D.
Chair, Committee on Toxicology
List of Abbreviations
ACGIH
American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists
COT
Committee on Toxicology
CT
the product of concentration and time
DOD
U.S. Department of Defense
EEGL
emergency exposure guidance level
EPA
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
FDA
U.S. Food and Drug Administration
HCE
hexachloroethane (the chemical)
HC
hexachloroethane (when combined with zinc oxide to produce a smoke)
HEPA
high-efficiency particulate air
IARC
International Agency for Research on Cancer
LC50
lethal concentration for 50% of the test animals
LCT50
lethal concentration multiplied by exposure time for 50% of the test animals
LD50
lethal dose for 50% of the test animals
LOAEL
lowest-observed-adverse-effect level
MOUT
military operations in urban terrain
NIOSH
U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
NOAEL
no-observed-adverse-effect level
NRC
National Research Council
OSHA
U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration
PAH
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
PEL
permissible exposure limit
PEGL
permissible emergency guidance level
PPEGL
permissible public exposure guidance level
RP-BR
red phosphorus-butyl rubber
SPEGL
short-term public exposure guidance level
STEL
short-term exposure limit
TLV
Threshold Limit Value
TWA
time-weighted average
VEESS
vehicle-engine-exhaust-smoke system