ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION BY MISSILE PROPELLANTS

Hydrazine, UDMH, Aerozine-50, beryllium fluoride, and decaborane, which are components of missile propellants, were investigated to determine their effects on soils, plants, and aquatic organisms. Oxygen reducible substrates, trace amounts of copper or other catalytic ions, pH, and temperature were factors reducing the stability of hydrazine, UDMH, and Aerozine-50. Undiluted hydrazine, UDMH, and Aerozine-50 moved through a 20-inch soil column when leached with 9 inches of water. Toxic concentrations of the test chemicals, as measured by the growth of rice, remained in the 12- to 20-inch depths after 9 inches of water had been leached though the columns. The effect of the test compounds on the germination of seeds from different plants varied from none to 100% with concentrations ranging from 0 to 200 ppm. All of the test compounds (>200 ppm) were toxic to the growth of rice, alfalfa, endive, and peas. Hydrazine, UDMH, and Aerozine-50 were toxic to pinto beans at concentrations >50 ppm in water cultures and >0.3 mg/m/sup 3/ as fumigants. The 24-hour median tolerance limit (TLm) values for goldfish, catfish, and bass ranged from 2.4 to 3.7 ppm for hydrazine, from 4.8 to 9.0 ppm for UDMH, from 3.4 to 6.6 ppm Aerozine-50, from 0.9more » to 4.2 ppm for decaborane, and from 180 to 220 ppm for beryllium fluoride. 14 references, 5 figures, 17 tables.« less