Assessment of Environmental and Occupational Health Impacts in Munitions and Weapon Systems Development: A Phased Approach

Environmental consequences of using specific compounds in military applications have lead to undesirable outcomes. Examples include expensive clean up operations, off-site groundwater migrations, and closing of operational ranges. Additionally, the use of specific weapon systems containing compounds with unknown or limited toxicity data may lead to adverse health consequences to soldiers and civilians. Often incomplete health information has led to inaccurate full life cycle cost estimates. The Army is currently exploring replacement substances for compounds identified as hazardous to health from an environmental and/or occupational (ESOH) perspective. To evaluate the environmental and occupational health consequences of new replacement compounds, a tiered approach has been developed and used within the program. Early in the research stage models are primarily relied upon (e.g. QSAR approaches) and as the technology progresses, a greater reliance is placed on experimental data beginning with in vitro techniques. As greater investment is devoted to system development, less uncertain in vivo data are collected. Together, these data and weighted lines of evidence are used to help guide life cycle decisions in the development of new systems. Examples will be provided. Presented at the Annual Partners in Environmental Technology Technical Symposium & Workshop (15th), Washington, DC, 30 Nov - 2 Dec 2010. Sponsored by SERDP and ESTCP. U.S. Government or Federal Rights License