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NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
This project was supported by Contract No. DAMD17-99-C-9049 between the National Academy of Sciences and the U.S. Department of Defense. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the organizations or agencies that provided support for this project.
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THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
National Academy of Sciences
National Academy of Engineering
Institute of Medicine
National Research Council
The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Bruce M.Alberts is president of the National Academy of Sciences.
The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Wm.A.Wulf is president of the National Academy of Engineering.
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SUBCOMMITTEE ON SUBMARINE ESCAPE ACTION LEVELS
Members
CHARLES HOBBS (Chair),
Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute, Albuquerque, New Mexico
MICHAEL ASCHNER,
Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina
DAVID BELLINGER,
Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
GERMAINE BUCK,
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Bethesda, Maryland
ARTHUR B.DUBOIS,
Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut
ALAN H.HALL,
Texas Tech University Health Science Center—El Paso, El Paso, Texas
FREDERICK JOHANNSEN,
Solutia, Inc., St. Louis, Missouri
DAVID MOORE,
Battelle Memorial Institute, Bel Air, Maryland
JOYCE TSUJI,
Exponent, Bellevue, Washington
Staff
ABIGAIL STACK, Project Director
EILEEN ABT, Program Officer
SUSAN MARTEL, Program Officer
KATE KELLY, Editor
MIRSADA KARALIC-LONCAREVIC, Information Specialist
EMILY SMAIL, Senior Program Assistant
JESSICA BROCK, Project Assistant
KELLY CLARK, Senior Editorial Assistant
Sponsor
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
COMMITTEE ON TOXICOLOGY
Members
BAILUS WALKER, JR. (Chair),
Howard University Medical Center and American Public Health Association, Washington, D.C
MELVIN E.ANDERSEN,
Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado
GERMAINE M.BUCK,
National Institute of Health, Washington, D.C
ROBERT E.FORSTER II,
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
WILLIAM E.HALPERIN,
New Jersey Medical School, Newark, New Jersey.
CHARLES H.HOBBS,
Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute and Lovelace Biomedical and Environmental Research Institute, Albuquerque, New Mexico
SAMUEL KACEW,
University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario
NANCY KERKVLIET,
Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon
MICHAEL J.KOSNETT,
University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver, Colorado
MORTON LIPPMANN,
New York University School of Medicine, Tuxedo, New York
ERNEST E.MCCONNELL,
ToxPath, Inc., Raleigh, North Carolina
THOMAS E.MCKONE,
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and University of California, Berkeley, California
HARIHARA MEHENDALE,
University of Louisiana at Monroe, Monroe, Louisiana
DAVID H.MOORE,
Battelle Memorial Institute, Bel Air, Maryland
LAUREN ZEISE,
California Environmental Protection Agency, Oakland, California
Staff
KULBIR S.BAKSHI, Program Director
SUSAN N.J.MARTEL, Program Officer
ABIGAIL E.STACK, Program Officer
AIDA NEEL, Administrative Assistant
JESSICA BROCK, Project Assistant
BOARD ON ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES AND TOXICOLOGY1
Members
GORDON ORIANS (Chair),
University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
JOHN DOULL (Vice Chair),
University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kansas
DAVID ALLEN,
University of Texas, Austin, Texas
INGRID C.BURKE,
Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado
THOMAS BURKE,
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland
WILLIAM L.CHAMEIDES,
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia
CHRISTOPHER B.FIELD,
Carnegie Institute of Washington, Stanford, California
J.PAUL GILMAN,
Celera Genomics, Rockville, Maryland
DANIEL S.GREENBAUM,
Health Effects Institute, Cambridge, Massachusetts
BRUCE D.HAMMOCK,
University of California, Davis, California
ROGENE HENDERSON,
Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute, Albuquerque, New Mexico
CAROL HENRY,
American Chemistry Council, Arlington, Virginia
ROBERT HUGGETT,
Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan
JAMES H.JOHNSON,
Howard University, Washington, D.C
JAMES F.KITCHELL,
University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin
DANIEL KREWSKI,
University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario
JAMES A.MACMAHON,
Utah State University, Logan, Utah
WILLEM F.PASSCHIER,
Health Council of the Netherlands, The Hague
ANN POWERS,
Pace University School of Law, White Plains, New York
LOUISE M.RYAN,
Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts
KIRK SMITH,
University of California, Berkeley, California
LISA SPEER,
Natural Resources Defense Council, New York, New York
Senior Staff
JAMES J.REISA, Director
DAVID J.POLICANSKY, Associate Director and Senior Program Director for Applied Ecology
RAYMOND A.WASSEL, Senior Program Director for Environmental Sciences and Engineering
KULBIR BAKSHI, Program Director for the Committee on Toxicology
ROBERTA M.WEDGE, Program Director for Risk Analysis
K.JOHN HOLMES, Senior Staff Officer
RUTH E.CROSSGROVE, Managing Editor
OTHER REPORTS OF THE BOARD ON ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES AND TOXICOLOGY
The Airliner Cabin Environment and Health of Passengers and Crew (2002)
Arsenic in Drinking Water: 2001 Update (2001)
Evaluating Vehicle Emissions Inspection and Maintenance Programs (2001)
Compensating for Wetland Losses Under the Clean Water Act (2001)
A Risk-Management Strategy for PCB-Contaminated Sediments (2001)
Toxicological Effects of Methylmercury (2000)
Strengthening Science at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: Research-Management and Peer-Review Practices (2000)
Scientific Frontiers in Developmental Toxicology and Risk Assessment (2000)
Modeling Mobile-Source Emissions (2000)
Toxicological Risks of Selected Flame-Retardant Chemicals (2000)
Copper in Drinking Water (2000)
Ecological Indicators for the Nation (2000)
Waste Incineration and Public Health (1999)
Hormonally Active Agents in the Environment (1999)
Research Priorities for Airborne Paniculate Matter: I. Immediate Priorities and a Long-Range Research Portfolio (1998); II. Evaluating Research Progress and Updating the Portfolio (1999); III. Early Research Progress (2001)
Ozone-Forming Potential of Reformulated Gasoline (1999)
Risk-Based Waste Classification in California (1999)
Arsenic in Drinking Water (1999)
Brucellosis in the Greater Yellowstone Area (1998)
The National Research Council’s Committee on Toxicology: The First 50 Years (1997)
Carcinogens and Anticarcinogens in the Human Diet (1996)
Upstream: Salmon and Society in the Pacific Northwest (1996)
Science and the Endangered Species Act (1995)
Wetlands: Characteristics and Boundaries (1995)
Biologic Markers (5 reports, 1989–1995)
Review of EPA’s Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (3 reports, 1994–1995)
Science and Judgment in Risk Assessment (1994)
Ranking Hazardous Waste Sites for Remedial Action (1994)
Pesticides in the Diets of Infants and Children (1993)
Setting Priorities for Land Conservation (1993)
Protecting Visibility in National Parks and Wilderness Areas (1993)
Dolphins and the Tuna Industry (1992)
Science and the National Parks (1992)
Assessment of the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf Environmental Studies Program, Volumes I–IV (1991–1993)
OTHER REPORTS OF THE COMMITTEE ON TOXICOLOGY
Standing Operating Procedures for Developing Acute Exposure Guideline Levels for Hazardous Chemicals (2001)
Evaluating Chemical and Other Agent Exposures for Reproductive and Developmental Toxicity (2001)
Acute Exposure Guideline Levels for Selected Airborne Contaminants, Volume 1 (2000)
Review of the US Navy’s Human Health Risk Assessment of the Naval Air Facility at Atsugi, Japan (2000)
Methods for Developing Spacecraft Water Exposure Guidelines (2000)
Review of the U.S. Navy Environmental Health Center’s Health-Hazard Assessment Process (2000)
Review of the U.S. Navy’s Exposure Standard for Manufactured Vitreous Fibers (2000)
Re-Evaluation of Drinking-Water Guidelines for Diisopropyl Methylphosphonate (2000)
Submarine Exposure Guidance Levels for Selected Hydrofluorocarbons: HFC-236fa, HFC-23, and HFC-404a (2000)
Review of the U.S. Army’s Health Risk Assessments for Oral Exposure to Six Chemical-Warfare Agents (1999)
Toxicity of Military Smokes and Obscurants, Volume 1(1997), Volume 2 (1999), Volume 3 (1999)
Assessment of Exposure-Response Functions for Rocket-Emission Toxicants (1998)
Toxicity of Alternatives to Chlorofluorocarbons: HFC-134a and HCFC-123 (1996)
Spacecraft Maximum Allowable Concentrations for Selected Airborne Contaminants, Volume 1 (1994), Volume 2 (1996), Volume 3 (1996), Volume 4 (2000)
Preface
The United States Navy seeks to protect crew members in disabled submarines from toxic effects caused by exposure to high concentrations of 8 gases: ammonia, carbon monoxide, hydrogen chloride, hydrogen cyanide, hydrogen sulfide, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and chlorine. The toxic effects resulting from exposure to the gases could impede crew members’ ability to escape after a serious accident. On-board fires would be anticipated as the principal sources of the first 7 gases; chlorine gas could be generated by the contact of seawater with a submarine’s batteries.
The Navy Health Research Center’s Toxicology Detachment has proposed submarine escape action levels (SEALs)—concentrations above which crew members’ health and ability to escape could be jeopardized—for each gas. The Navy requested that the National Research Council (NRC) review independently the available toxicologic and epidemiologic data on the gases in question and evaluate the scientific validity of the Navy’s proposed SEALs. The NRC assigned the project to its Committee on Toxicology, and assembled the Subcommittee on Submarine Escape Action Levels to prepare this report.
The subcommittee thanks Captain Kenneth Still (U.S. Navy), Commander Wayne Horn (U.S. Navy), and Lieutenant Cody Wilson (U.S. Naval Reserve) for their support of this project and for providing valuable background information. We also wish to express our gratitude to Dr. Paul Weathersby (U.S. Navy, Retired) and to Dr. Stephen Borron (International Toxicology Consultants) for providing information.
The subcommittee visited the nuclear attack submarine, USS Dallas, docked at the Navy’s submarine base in Groton, Connecticut. Several members of the USS Dallas’s crew were helpful in giving a crew’s perspective on conditions aboard a submarine. The subcommittee members found the tour to be valuable to its work.
This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the NRC Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We wish to thank the following individuals for their review of this report: Stephen Borron, International Toxicology Consultants, Washington, District of Columbia; Aaron Cohen, Health Effects Institute, Cambridge, Massachusetts; David Dorman, CIIT Centers for Health Research, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina; Robert Phalen, University of California, Irvine, California; and Nga Tran, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland.
Although the reviewers provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the report’s conclusions or recommendations nor did they see the final draft of the report before its release. The review of this report was overseen by Joseph Borzelleca, Medical College of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia, who was appointed by NRC to ensure that an independent examination of this report was conducted in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the authoring committee and the institution.
We are also grateful for the assistance of members of the NRC staff in the preparation of this report. The subcommittee acknowledges Abigail Stack, project director, and Kulbir Bakshi, program director of the Committee on Toxicology. Other staff members contributing to this report were James Reisa, director of the Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology, Roberta Wedge, senior program officer; Eileen Abt, program officer; Susan Martel, program officer; Ruth Crossgrove, managing editor; Emily Smail, senior program assistant; and Jessica Brock, project assistant; and Kelly Clark, senior editorial assistant.