title: Development and application of acute exposure guideline levels (AEGLs) for chemical warfare nerve and sulfur mustard agents.
abstract: Acute exposure guideline levels (AEGLs) have been developed for the chemical warfare agents GB, GA, GD, GF, VX, and sulfur mustard. These AEGLs were approved by the National Advisory Committee for Acute Exposure Guideline Levels for Hazardous Substances after Federal Register publication and comment, and judged as scientifically valid by the National Research Council Committee on Toxicology Subcommittee on AEGLs. AEGLs represent general public exposure limits for durations ranging from 10 min to 8 h, and for three levels of severity (AEGL-1, AEGL-2, AEGL-3). Mild effects are possible at concentrations greater than AEGL-1, while life-threatening effects are expected at concentrations greater than AEGL-3. AEGLs can be applied to various civilian and national defense purposes, including evacuation and shelter-in-place protocols, reentry levels, protective clothing specifications, and analytical monitoring requirements. This report documents development and derivation of AEGL values for six key chemical warfare agents, and makes recommendations for their application to various potential exposure scenarios.
authors.affiliation: Toxicology and Hazard Assessment Group, Life Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830-6480, USA. watsonap@ornl.gov
authors.forename: Annetta
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Watson
authors.forename: Dennis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Opresko
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Young
authors.forename: Veronique
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Hauschild
mesh_terms: D002619:Chemical Warfare Agents / Q000506:poisoning*; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D006801:Humans; D012016:Reference Values; D018570:Risk Assessment
chemical_list: D002619:Chemical Warfare Agents