Toxicity of Binary Chemical Munition Destruction Products: Methylphosphonic Acid, Methylphosphinic Acid, 2-Diisopropylaminoethanol, DF Neutralent, and QL Neutralent

Abstract

This paper reports the toxicity and environmental impact of neutralents produced from the hydrolysis of binary chemical agent precursor chemicals DF (methylphosphonic difluoride) and QL (2-[bis(1-methylethyl)amino]ethyl ethyl methylphosphonite). Following a literature review of the neutralent mixtures and constituents, basic toxicity tests were conducted to fill data gaps, including acute oral and dermal median lethal dose assays, the Ames mutagenicity test, and ecotoxicity tests. For methylphosphonic acid (MPA), a major constituent of DF neutralent, the acute oral LD50 in the Sprague-Dawley rat was measured at 1888 mg/kg, and the Ames test using typical tester strains of Salmonella typhimurium and Escherichia coli was negative. The 48-h LC50 values for pH-adjusted DF neutralent with Daphnia magna and Cyprinodon variegatus were >2500 mg/L and 1593 mg/L, respectively. The acute oral LD50 values in the rat for QL neutralent constituents methylphosphinic acid (MP) and 2-diisopropylaminoethanol (KB) were both determined to be 940 mg/kg, and the Ames test was negative for both. Good Laboratory Practice (GLP)-compliant ecotoxicity tests for MP and KB gave 48-h D. magna EC50 values of 6.8 mg/L and 83 mg/L, respectively. GLP-compliant 96-h C. variegatus assays on MP and KB gave LC50 values of 73 and 252 mg/L, respectively, and NOEC values of 22 and 108 mg/L. QL neutralent LD50 values for acute oral and dermal toxicity tests were both > 5000 mg/kg, and the 48-h LD50 values for D. magna and C. variegatus were 249 and 2500 mg/L, respectively. Using these data, the overall toxicity of the neutralents was assessed.