War and Environmental Health: Chemical Warfare Agents

TY - ENCYC

T1 - War and Environmental Health

T2 - Chemical Warfare Agents

AU - Sanderson, Hans

PY - 2019/1/1

Y1 - 2019/1/1

N2 - Chemical warfare agents (CWA) are illicit chemical compounds that have been used in conflicts for centuries. Use of CWA in conflicts was banned following the third Geneva Convention in 1925. In 1993 most countries in the world ratified the Chemical Warfare Convention mandating the destruction of CWA by 2012. Currently, the primary international concern in relation to CWA and public health is Syria who has used gas on more than 25 occasions over the past years, as well as is its potential use by terrorist organizations. CWA’s represents environmental legacy contaminants as production, most use, and sea-dumping of CWA prior to the London Convention in 1972 typically occurred decades ago. Due to their inherent toxic properties and status as illicit compounds, CWA is characterized by relatively poorly described physico-chemical, fate, human and environmental long-term toxicity profiles. Secrecy and uncertainty still exists with regard to where, when, how much, and what types of CWA were dumped at sea across the globe. Scientifically sound, tiered marine environmental risk assessments are necessary for international consensus on the pressure, state, and impact that CWA may exert on human and environmental health, and in turn to evaluate the cost-benefit of potential remediation. The societal response to the risk analysis should adhere to existing international conventions for protection of human and environmental health.

AB - Chemical warfare agents (CWA) are illicit chemical compounds that have been used in conflicts for centuries. Use of CWA in conflicts was banned following the third Geneva Convention in 1925. In 1993 most countries in the world ratified the Chemical Warfare Convention mandating the destruction of CWA by 2012. Currently, the primary international concern in relation to CWA and public health is Syria who has used gas on more than 25 occasions over the past years, as well as is its potential use by terrorist organizations. CWA’s represents environmental legacy contaminants as production, most use, and sea-dumping of CWA prior to the London Convention in 1972 typically occurred decades ago. Due to their inherent toxic properties and status as illicit compounds, CWA is characterized by relatively poorly described physico-chemical, fate, human and environmental long-term toxicity profiles. Secrecy and uncertainty still exists with regard to where, when, how much, and what types of CWA were dumped at sea across the globe. Scientifically sound, tiered marine environmental risk assessments are necessary for international consensus on the pressure, state, and impact that CWA may exert on human and environmental health, and in turn to evaluate the cost-benefit of potential remediation. The societal response to the risk analysis should adhere to existing international conventions for protection of human and environmental health.

KW - Arsenicals

KW - Chemical weapons

KW - Emerging contaminants

KW - Marine risk assessment

KW - Mode-of-action

KW - Nerve agent

KW - Sea-dumping

KW - Yperite

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85079530267&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/B978-0-12-409548-9.11578-7

DO - 10.1016/B978-0-12-409548-9.11578-7

M3 - Encyclopedia entry

SN - 9780444639516

VL - 6

SP - 397

EP - 405

BT - Encyclopedia of Environmental Health

A2 - Nriagu, J.

PB - Elsevier

ER -