Health and Environmental Risks Associated with the Destruction of Chemical Weapons

The provisions of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) connected with possible contact of personnel are summarised. Any handling with chemical weapons (CW), both in bulk and in munitions as well as with toxic armaments waste, in implementing the CWC, including verifying its provisions, is associated with actual health and environmental risks. The most fundamental provisions of the CWC, which reflect its original purpose, are those dealing with destruction of CW, which present a high risk during the whole course of destruction operations, starting with loading the cargo containers, over transportation, filling of destruction equipment, etc. untill the disposal of nontoxic waste and scrap metal. The developed and operational destruction technologies are reviewed. The system of workplace safety and environmental protection of CW destruction / disposal operations including their verification as envisaged by the CWC is to be based on toxicological data of toxic agents to be destroyed, efficiency of technologies and toxic properties of end products. At present, with the exception of studies connected with the influence of sea-dumped CW on aquatic environment, there is a lack of data dealing with the impact of CW on other environmental components and ecosystems.