title: Fate of sulfur mustard on soil: Evaporation, degradation, and vapor emission.
abstract: After application of sulfur mustard to the soil surface, its possible fate via evaporation, degradation following absorption, and vapor emission after decontamination was studied. We used a laboratory-sized wind tunnel, thermal desorber, gas chromatograph-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), and13C nuclear magnetic resonance (13C NMR) for systematic analysis. When a drop of neat HD was deposited on the soil surface, it evaporated slowly while being absorbed immediately into the matrix. The initial evaporation or drying rates of the HD drop were found to be power-dependent on temperature and initial drop volume. Moreover, drops of neat HD, ranging in size from 1 to 6 μL, applied to soil, evaporated at different rates, with the smaller drops evaporating relatively quicker. HD absorbed into soil remained for a month, degrading eventually to nontoxic thiodiglycol via hydrolysis through the formation of sulfonium ions. Finally, a vapor emission test was performed for HD contaminant after a decontamination process, the results of which suggest potential risk from the release of trace chemical quantities of HD into the environment.
authors.affiliation: Agency for Defense Development, Yuseong-Gu, Daejeon 305-600, South Korea. Electronic address: junghs@add.re.kr.
authors.forename: Hyunsook
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.affiliation: Agency for Defense Development, Yuseong-Gu, Daejeon 305-600, South Korea.
authors.forename: Dongha
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kah
authors.affiliation: Agency for Defense Development, Yuseong-Gu, Daejeon 305-600, South Korea.
authors.forename: Kyoung
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Chan Lim
authors.affiliation: Agency for Defense Development, Yuseong-Gu, Daejeon 305-600, South Korea.
authors.forename: Jin Young
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D002619:Chemical Warfare Agents / Q000737:chemistry*; D003666:Decontamination / Q000379:methods*; D003890:Desiccation; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D006868:Hydrolysis; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D009151:Mustard Gas / Q000737:chemistry*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012987:Soil / Q000737:chemistry*; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000737:chemistry*; D013438:Sulfhydryl Compounds / Q000737:chemistry; D013440:Sulfides / Q000737:chemistry; D013452:Sulfonium Compounds / Q000737:chemistry; D013696:Temperature; D014835:Volatilization; D014919:Wind
chemical_list: D002619:Chemical Warfare Agents; D012987:Soil; D012989:Soil Pollutants; D013438:Sulfhydryl Compounds; D013440:Sulfides; D013452:Sulfonium Compounds; C047519:2,2'-thiodiethanol; D009151:Mustard Gas
keywords: Absorption; Decontamination; Degradation; Evaporation; Soil; Sulfur mustard