A Revised Health Risk Assessment for the Use of Hexachloroethane Smoke on an Army Training Area.
Abstract
Hexachloroethane (HC) smoke in pots, grenades, and artillery rounds has been used in military training exercises since the Second World War. Chamber tests generating HC smoke with scaled-down smoke pots consistently show the presence of perchloroethylene, carbon tetrachloride, hexachloroethane, hexachlorobenzene, cadmium, and arsenic, all of which have been determined to be carcinogenic in laboratory animals or in humans. The objective of this study was to develop a worst-practicable-case scenario of Army troop exposure in training and then to calculate to total absorbed dosage and attendant cancer risk from a feasible number of repetitive exposures at the site. Risk estimates were also made for civilian populations surrounding the installation. This study recommends (1) the Army enforce its directive to mask in the presence of HC smoke, (2) the Army closely regulate the deployment of HC and other smokes on all of its installations, (3) studies should be conducted on Army installations to determine the risk from HC smokes to which the soldier and local populace are exposed, (4) an annual HC smoke risk of cancer to soldiers of greater than 1 in 10,000 should be reduced where perceived, and (5) the Army should adopt a safety principle- as low as reasonably achievable -for both troop and civilian exposure to HC-smokes.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 1987
- Accession Number
- ADA187238
Entities
People
- David J. Schaeffer
- Edward W. Novak
- James J. Stukel
- Lester B. Lave
Organizations
- Construction Engineering Research Laboratory