Environmental Fate and Effects

Sulfur mustard can be considered environmentally persistent because it is chemically stable and of low volatility. When protected from weathering conditions, it may persist in soil for years. VX is moderately persistent because of low volatility and slow rate of hydrolysis. The G-agents can be considered non-persistent on the basis of volatility and hydrolysis rates. Depending on environmental conditions, their half-lives may be measured in hours to days. Lewisite is rapidly hydrolyzed but the insoluble oxide formed is stable in the environment. In addition, arsenical degradation products of lewisite persist in the environment. Because of its extreme volatility and relatively rapid hydrolysis, cyanogen chloride is not persistent in the environment. 

Although two of the nitrogen mustards are not specifically treated in this review, their chemical properties resemble those of sulfur mustard and their fate in the environment is briefly discussed. Based on chemical and physical properties, HN3 [(CH2CH2C1)3N] can be considered environmentally persistent and HNl [(CH2CH2C1)2NC2H5) and HN2 [(CH2CH2Cl)2NCH3l can be considered moderately persistent. 

L Environmental Fate. There are few published data on the fate of mustard agents in air, water, or soil most of the available data, including chemical and 

The volatility of HNS is low, about 100 mg/m at 20 °C, and a toxic concentration would not develop in the atmosphere at contaminated sites. The volatilities of HNl and HN2 are greater than that of HNS, approximately 2(XX) and S500 mg/m at 25 °C, respectively (Franke 1982). 

The hydrolysis of chemical agents in water is directly related to their solubility thus, water solubility greatly influences their persistence. All the mustard agents have limited solubility in water at neutral pH. Because of the low water solubility of H and HD and virtual insolubility of HT, bulk amounts of mustard agents persist undispersed under water for some time. Although HD has been reported to hydrolyze in distilled water with a half-life of 8.5 min at 25 °C, hydrolysis is limited by the very slow rate of solution and the hydrolysis rate is essentially the rate of solution. Low temperatures decrease the rate of hydrolysis and result in greater persistence. 

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Sodergren, A. (Ed.) (1991). Environmental Fate and Effects of Bleached Pulp Mill Effluents. Report No. 4031, Swedish Environmental Protection Agency. 

Yunker, M.B. and Cretney, W.J. (1996). Dioxins and furans in crab hepatopancreas uses of principle component analysis to classify congener patterns and determine linkages to contamination sources. In M. Servos, K.R. Munkittrick J H. Carey, and G.J. van der Kraak (Eds.) Environmental Fate and Effects of Pulp and Paper Mill Effluents. Delray Beach, FL St. Lucie Press, pp. 315-325. 

Saski EK, A Vahatalo, K Salonen, MS Salkinoja-Salonen (1996b) Mesocosm simulation on sediment formation indnced by biologically treated bleached kraft pulp mill wastewater in freshwater recipients. In Environmental Fate and Effects of Pulp and Paper Mill Effluents (Eds MR Servos, KR Munlittrick, JH Carey, and GJ van der Kraak), pp. 261-270. St Lucie Press, Delray Beach, FL. 

As probabilistic exposure and risk assessment methods are developed and become more frequently used for environmental fate and effects assessment, OPP increasingly needs distributions of environmental fate values rather than single point estimates, and quantitation of error and uncertainty in measurements. Probabilistic models currently being developed by the OPP require distributions of environmental fate and effects parameters either by measurement, extrapolation or a combination of the two. The models predictions will allow regulators to base decisions on the likelihood and magnitude of exposure and effects for a range of conditions which vary both spatially and temporally, rather than in a specific environment under static conditions. This increased need for basic data on environmental fate may increase data collection and drive development of less costly and more precise analytical methods. 

ECOFRAM Terestrial Report. United States Environmental Protection Agency, Environmental Fate and Effects Division, Washington, DC (1999). 

FMC. 1980. The environmental fate and effects of aryl phosphates and phenolics in wastewaters from the production of Kronitex phosphate esters. Technical report [microfiche 0518399], FMC Corporation, Princeton, NJ, 42. 

Sepuveda A, Schluep M, Renaud FG, Streicher M, Kuehr R, Hageliien C, Gerecke AC (2009) A review of the environmental fate and effects of hazardous substances released from electrical and electronic equipments during recycling examples from China and India. Environ Impact Assess Rev 30(l) 28-48. doi 10.1016/j.eiar.2009.04.001... 

Sorption plays a significant role in the environmental fate and effects of compounds released into the aquatic environment, largely determining their distribution between different environmental compartments. Apart from affecting the mobility, and therefore the potential of a surfactant to reach groundwater and surface water, sorption can affect its toxicity and biodegradation by influencing bioavailability. This process is especially relevant for surfactants, since their molecular structure presents a pronounced tendency to sorb onto interfaces. 

Abel R (1996) In Champ MA, Seligman PF (eds) Organotin, environmental fate and effects. Chapman 8t Hall, London, p 27... 

Cancilla, D.A., Baird, J.C., Geis, S.W., and Corsi, S.R. Studies of the environmental fate and effect of aircraft deicing fluids detection of 5-methyl-l//-benzotriazole in the fathead minnow (Pimephales promelad), Environ. Toxicol. Chem., 22(1) 134-140, 2002. 

Initial environmental fate and effect analysis Physicochemical properties and fate assessment... 

To assess the potential environmental impact, studies on environmental fate and effects were conducted for a risk assessment. Steger-Hartmann et al. [125] calculated the predicted environmental concentration (PEC) in surface water and compared the resulting concentration of 2 g with the predicted no-effect... 

O Hagan A. 2001. Uncertainty in toxicological predictions the Bayesian approach to statistics. In Rainbow PS, Hopkin SR Crane M, editors. Forecasting the environmental fate and effects of chemicals. Chichester (UK) John Wiley, p 25—41. 

Champ, P.M., Seligman, P.F. (1996). Organotin Environmental Fate and Effects, Chapman Hall, London. 

The US EPA characterizes As, Be, Sb, Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb, Hg, Ni, Se, Ag, Tl, and Zn as priority metals because of their potential hazardousness to human health. However, the environmental fate and effect of only a few metals (As, B, Cd, Cr, Cu, Mo, Ni, Pb, and Zn) have been studied extensively (Rechcigl 1995). For a given metal the potential to cause harm depends on the identifiable risk pathway, which is different for different metals. One pathway usually provides the highest probability of adverse affects to some receptor and is, therefore, the limiting pathway (Ryan Bryndzia 1997). The most toxic elements to humans are Hg, Pb, Cd, Ni, and Co. Some of the principal limiting pathways for various metals are the direct ingestion of Pb-contaminated soil by children plant phytotoxicity from Cu, Zn, Ni food-chain concentration and transfer of Cd and Hg to humans and food-chain transfer of Se and Mo to livestock (Ryan Bryndzia 1997). 

Pesticide registrants must also submit environmental fate and effects data to the EPA as part of an application for pesticide registration. The EPA uses such environmental data to characterize the persistence and partitioning of a pesticide in the environment and the pesticide s environmental metabolites and degradates. This information is used by the EPA to assess the potential for human exposure via drinking water contamination and environmental exposure of organisms such as fish, wildlife, and plants to the pesticide or its metabolites. 

Possible transformation products can be numerous and their identification and assessment are both costly and time consuming. Transformation normally causes a change in the physicochemical and (eco)toxicological properties, that is, transformation products have different environmental fates and effects. A risk assessment of such compounds is often not feasible because these chemicals are not available in the amounts needed for testing, and their identities may not even be known. 

Kramer, J.R., Grundy, H.D. and Hammer, L.G. (1980) Occurrence and solubility of trace metals in barite for ocean drilling operations. Research and Environmental Fate and Effects of Drilling Fluids and Cuttings, Vol II Proceedings of a Symposium 21-24 January 1980, Lake Buena Vista, FL, pp. 789-798. 

Brain, R.A., Wilson, C., Johnson, D., Bryning, G., Peregrine, A.S., Boxall, A. and Solomon, K.R. (2007) Assessment of the environmental fate and effects of ivermectin in aquatic mesocosms. Aquat Toxicol, 85, 229-240. 

Leung, H.-W. (2001) Ecotoxicology of glutaraldehyde review of environmental fate and effects studies. Ecotoxicol. Environ. Saf., 49, 26-39. 

Giolando, S.T., R.A. Rapaport, R. J. Larson, T.W. Federle, M. Stalmans, and P. Mascheleyn. 1995. Environmental fate and effects of DEEDMAC a new rapidly degradable cationic surfactant for use in fabric softeners. Chemosphere 30, 1067-1083. 

USEPA (2007). White paper on the potential for atrazine to affect amphibian gonadal development, in support of an Interim Reregistration Eligibility Decision on Atrazine. Submitted to FIFRA Scientific Advisory Panel, October 9-12. Office of Prevention, Pesticides, and Toxic Substances, Office of Pesticide Programs, Environmental Fate and Effects Division. Washington, DC. September 21. 

Solomon, K.R. (1999). Integrating environmental fate and effects information The keys to ecotoxicological risk assessment for pesticides. In G.T. Brooks and T.R. Roberts, eds., Pesticide Chemistry and Bioscience The Food-Environment Challenge, London, UK Royal Society of Chemistry, pp. 313-326. 

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