Human Health Safety Evaluation of Halon Replacement Candidates

Environmental concern over the depletion of stratospheric ozone and global warming has led to an international treaty called The Montreal Protocol which calls for the phase out of halons by the year 2000. The services within the Department of Defense (DoD) are directed to determine and evaluate suitable halon replacement candidates that will optimize performance of mission-essential equipment and operations. Part of the evaluation process is to select halon replacement candidates that will be in compliance with environment, health, and safety considerations. In this document, a strategy for human health safety evaluation of halon replacement candidates is provided. A step-wise approach in building a chemical toxicity database, specific for halon replacement candidates, allows decisions to be made with budget and time constraints in mind. Four phases of toxicity testing are described. The confidence in predicting human health hazard increases as one proceeds from one phase of testing to the next, but the cost of each phase increases as well. Information is provided at the end of each phase that allows one to evaluate the overall benefit and cost of the tests performed before deciding to continue or stop toxicity testing of the replacement candidate. This research is part of the Department of Defense's Next-Generation Fire Suppression Technology Program (NGP), funded by the DoD Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP). This document is part of the final reporting process for NGP Project 3B/1/89.