Department of Transportation Inhalation Test of Neutralized GB Hydrolysate in Sprague-Dawley Rats

The Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives (ACWA) Program has been tasked to demonstrate alternative technologies that will safely dispose of assembled chemicals munitions through means other than incineration. The ACWA program is currently investigating GB hydrolysate, a product solution resulting from chemically neutralizing GB with aqueous sodium hydroxide (pH 12.8) as an acceptably treated waste that can be transported offsite for secondary treatment. An acute inhalation toxicity test was conducted on a ph adjusted hydrolysate solution (pH 7.8) to assess the toxicity of the hydrolyzed components, a mix of aqueous soluble organics, metals, and anions, without its corrosive properties. Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed for 1 hr to an aerosol concentration of 3.5 mg/L hydrolysate per Department of Transportation (DOT) guidelines. The rats did not exhibit any signs of either irritation or overt toxicity during either the exposure or post-exposure periods. Further, no mortality occurred within the 14 day post-exposure period, an endpoint of the DOT study. The product solution from the neutralized (pH 7.8) hydrolysate does not appear to pose an acute inhalation hazard. Prepared in cooperation with Science Applications International Corp., Gunpowder, MD.