Environmental Aspects of Converting CW Facilities to Peaceful Purposes: Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on Environmental Aspects of Converting CW Facilities to Peaceful Purposes and Derivative Technolo(37 NATO Science Partnership Subseries: 1)

There is hardly any information available on the chronic effects of low doses of chemical warfare agents, but there is a growing body of data on the chronic effects of exposure to other toxic materials (PAHs, PABs and the like). One of the four main themes of the book is thus the chronic effects of extended exposure to low doses of toxic material. There is some important contemporary work on the effects of such materials on cellular material and genes. The book's second main theme is the decontamination of CW facilities, centring on two topics: bioremediation and concrete. Both before and after decontamination, one needs to be able to analyze residual toxics at trace level - possibly even at parts per trillion or parts per quadrillion levels. Techniques for use at these levels do not permit the identification of compounds. Neither LIDAR nor solid phase microextraction, used for air monitoring, offer this sort of sensitivity. Toxic waste has to be disposed of, and plasma arc technology and chemical oxidation are discussed as techniques to reduce toxicity to acceptable levels - if such can be specified. The eternal question in such matters, of course, is "How clean is clean enough?" , and the discussion of this theme outlines two approaches: a regulatory approach and one based on quantitative risk analysis.

Table of Contents:
Effects of Long-Term Exposure to Low Levels of Toxic Materials.- Mathematical Modeling in the Problems of Chemical and Ecological Safety.- Biomonitoring of Exposure to Chemical Warfare Agents.- Medical and Biological Aspects of the Problem of Chemical Safety of the Biosphere.- Solidification/Stabilization of Adamsite and Lewisite in Cement and the Stability of Arylarsenicals in Soil.- Oxidative Decontamination.- Innovative Technology for Detoxification and Disinfection of Soils and Water Bodies.- Quality Assurance and Quality Control for On-Site Analysis of Toxic Materials.- Rapid Screening Methods to Isolate Proliferation Related Compounds from Suspect Samples Utilizing Solid Phase Microextraction (SPME) Technology.- Fast Screening of Water and Organic Solution Samples for Polychlorinated Compounds: Microliquid Extraction and GC/MS.- Trace Analytical Methods for the Analysis of Lewisite Residues.- General Approaches to the Analysis of Arsenic Containing Warfare Agents.- Portable X-Ray Fluorescence Analysis of a CW Facility Site for Arsenic Containing Warfare Agents.- Mobile LIDAR for Monitoring of Gasous Atmospheric Pollutants.- Multi-Wavelength LIDAR.- Monitoring Air Quality Associated with CW Facilities.- Ecologically Safe Technology for Bioremediation of Soils Polluted by Toxic Chemical Substances.- Direct Chemical Oxidation of Mixed or Toxic Wastes.- Thermal Plasma as a Novel Technique for Water Decontamination.- Scientific-Engineering Foundation of Plasma-Chemical Technological Treatment of Toxic Agents (TA) and Industrial Super-Toxic Agents (ISA).- Risk Assessment within the Control Process of Major Accident Hazards.