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Development and Application of Acute Exposure Guideline Levels (AEGLs) for Chemical Warfare Nerve and Sulfur Mustard Agents

2006; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 9; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/15287390500194441

1521-6950

Annetta P. Watson, Dennis M. Opresko, Robert Young, Veronique Hauschild,

Toxic Organic Pollutants Impact

Abstract Acute exposure guideline levels (AEGLs) have been developed for the chemical warfare agents GB, GA, GD, GF, VX, and sulfur mustard. These AEGLs were approved by the National Advisory Committee for Acute Exposure Guideline Levels for Hazardous Substances after Federal Register publication and comment, and judged as scientifically valid by the National Research Council Committee on Toxicology Subcommittee on AEGLs. AEGLs represent general public exposure limits for durations ranging from 10 min to 8 h, and for three levels of severity (AEGL-1, AEGL-2, AEGL-3). Mild effects are possible at concentrations greater than AEGL-1, while life-threatening effects are expected at concentrations greater than AEGL-3. AEGLs can be applied to various civilian and national defense purposes, including evacuation and shelter-in-place protocols, reentry levels, protective clothing specifications, and analytical monitoring requirements. This report documents development and derivation of AEGL values for six key chemical warfare agents, and makes recommendations for their application to various potential exposure scenarios. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This work was prepared by members of the Toxicology and Hazard Assessment Group, Life Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN, in collaboration with staff of the Deployment Environmental Surveillance Program of the U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine. This work was prepared for the U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine, U.S. Department of the Army, under Interagency Agreement 2207-M135-A1. The ORNL is managed and operated by UT-Battelle, LLC, for the U.S. Department of Energy under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725. The critical advice of the following individuals during development and review of these AEGL values is thankfully acknowledged: From the Life Sciences Division of ORNL, we thank Sylvia Talmage, Tim Borges, Carol Wood, Marilyn Langston, Lee Ann Wilson, Jennifer Goldberg and Cheryl Bast. From the National Advisory Committee for Acute Exposure Guidelines for Hazardous Substances, we thank Bill Bress (Vermont Department of Health, Burlington, VT), John Hinz (USAF, Brooks AFB, TX), Loren Koller, (Environmental Health and Toxicology, Corvallis, OR), Glenn Leach (U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD), Mark McClanahan (USDHHS Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA) and CAPT Kenneth Still (USN, Naval Health Research Center, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH). From the National Research Council Committee on Toxicology, Subcommittee on Acute Exposure Guideline Levels, we thank Kulbir Bakshi (Committee on Toxicology, National Research Council, Washington, DC), Edward Bishop (Parsons Corporation, Pasadena, CA), John Doull (University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS), David Gaylor (Sciences International, Inc., Little Rock, AR), Daniel Krewski (University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada), Franz Oesch (University of Mainz, Mainz, GDR), and Frederik de Wolff (Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands). Sound technical advice and data interpretation on the subject of miosis and anticholinesterase exposure in multiple laboratory animal and human experimental exposure systems were provided by Drs. Herman van Helden (TNO Prins Maurits Laboratory, the Netherlands), Susan Tattersall (Biomedical Sciences Division, Porton Down, UK), Fred Sidell (HB Publishing, Bel Air, MD), and Timothy Fox (Fox Vision Care, Oliver Springs, TN).