The concept of mobile, maritime system for location, assessment of technical condition, recovery and destruction of dumped chemical munitions

After the World War II, acting under the terms of the Potsdam Agreement, the anti-Nazi coalition commenced destroying chemical and conventional munitions by dumping it in the seas (including in the Baltic Sea). As a result of these activities, tens of thousands of tons of ammunition were brought to the Baltic. The international project CHEMSEA has shown that dumped chemical munitions pose a threat to the environmental safety of the Baltic Sea, and that the need to collect and destroy munitions should be taken into account. The article describes the assumptions of a pilot system to identify chemical munitions in the Baltic Sea (including selected areas of the Polish Maritime Areas), assess its technical condition and the potential for its recovery. In addition, existing technical solutions (allowing for the use of the best available techniques – BAT) provide the opportunity to collect and neutralize sunken chemical munitions

Improvement in health-related quality of life after therapy with omeprazole in patients with coronary artery disease and recurrent angina-like chest pain. A double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of the SF-36 survey

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Many patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) have overlapping gastroenterological causes of recurrent chest pain, mainly due to gastroesophageal reflux (GER) and aspirin-induced gastrointestinal tract damage. These symptoms can be alleviated by proton pump inhibitors (PPIs). The study addressed whether omeprazole treatment also affects general health-related quality of life (HRQL) in patients with CAD.</p> <p>Study</p> <p>48 patients with more than 50% narrowing of the coronary arteries on angiography without clinically overt gastrointestinal symptoms were studied. In a double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over study design, patients were randomized to take omeprazole 20 mg bid or a placebo for two weeks, and then crossed over to the other study arm. The SF-36 questionnaire was completed before treatment and again after two weeks of therapy.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Patients treated with omeprazole in comparison to the subjects taking the placebo had significantly greater values for the SF-36 survey (which relates to both physical and mental health), as well as for bodily pain, general health perception, and physical health. In comparison to the baseline values, therapy with omeprazole led to a significant increase in the three summarized health components: total SF-36; physical and mental health; and in the following detailed health concept scores: physical functioning, limitations due to physical health problems, bodily pain and emotional well-being.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>A double dose of omeprazole improved the general HRQL in patients with CAD without severe gastrointestinal symptoms more effectively than the placebo.</p

Acute aquatic toxicity of arsenic-based chemical warfare agents to Daphnia magna

Sea dumping of chemical warfare (CW) took place worldwide during the 20th century. Submerged CW included metal bombs and casings that have been exposed for 50-100 years of corrosion and are now known to be leaking. Therefore, the arsenic-based chemical warfare agents (CWAs), pose a potential threat to the marine ecosystems. The aim of this research was to support a need for real-data measurements for accurate risk assessments and categorization of threats originating from submerged CWAs. This has been achieved by providing a broad insight into arsenic-based CWAs acute toxicity in aquatic ecosystems. Standard tests were performed to provide a solid foundation for acute aquatic toxicity threshold estimations of CWA: Lewisite, Adamsite, Clark I, phenyldichloroarsine (PDCA), CWA-related compounds: TPA, arsenic trichloride and four arsenic-based CWA degradation products. Despite their low solubility, during the 48 h exposure, all CWA caused highly negative effects on Daphnia magna. PDCA was very toxic with 48 h D. magna LC50 at 0.36 mu g x L-1- and Lewisite with EC50 at 3.2 mu g x L-1 . Concentrations at which no immobilization effects were observed were slightly above the analytical Limits of Detection (LOD) and Quantification (LOQ). More water-soluble CWA degradation products showed no effects at concentrations up to 100 mg x L-1.Peer reviewe

CHEMICAL WEAPONS DUMPED IN THE POLISH SEA AREAS – TECHNICAL POSSIBILITIES OF ITS REMEDIATION AND LEGAL RESTRICTIONS

Conducted in 2005 scientific and research work in the Baltic Sea on dumped chemical weapons were aimed mainly at: confirmation of regions where post-war chemical weapons were dumped, verification of unofficial dumpsites, inventoried quantity of dumped chemical ammunition and toxic warfare agents, development of research technologies for tracking and monitoring the effects of the presence of poisons in the sea and the identification and assessment of risks to sea users and to the living organisms. The results of the above tests clearly indicate that released toxic agents are not neutral to the marine environment and living organisms. During the study, it was undisputed that their presence has a negative effect on marine organisms. Examples include, for example, genetic changes in organisms, especially in fish foraging close to chemical weapons repositories or paralysis (eg burns) of animals that have direct contact with poisons released into the bottom sediments. This causes that more and more often, as the only rescue for the environment, activities aimed at removing chemical weapons lying on the bottom are indicated. The article presents technical aspects related to the removing and neutralization of chemical weapons submerged in the Baltic Sea as well as the legal aspects of such actions, especially in the context of the International Convention on the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons

DESTRUCTION OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS IN POLISH MARITIME AREAS - LEGAL OBSTACLES AND POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS

The problem of post-war chemical weapons lying on the seabed of the Baltic Sea is an issue which, in addition to posing environmental threats, may soon also have a direct impact on the realisation of many investments planned to be located in Polish maritime areas. In the nearest future this problem will concern in particular investors connected with the construction of offshore wind farms. Despite the fact that these investments are located outside the official sites of chemical weapons dumping, it is necessary to take into account the risk of the presence of chemical weapons in the area of the realised investment during its realisation, in particular at the stage of geological, and construction research. This is due to the fact that to date there is no comprehensive inventory of the Polish maritime areas in terms of estimating the total amount of dumped chemical weapons, the types of chemical warfare agents filling them, and the exact locations of their deposition. The presence of chemical weapons in the area of the planned investment may significantly delay its implementation, thus exposing investors to enormous losses associated with the downtime necessary to remove the threat. In the current Polish formal, and legal State, there is no specific legal basis for taking actions aimed at clearing sea areas designated for economic use of dangerous objects, such as dumped chemical weapons. There is no entity responsible for coordinating such activities, no entity capable of extracting, and destroying chemical munitions with their contained toxic warfare agents in accordance with the law in force, and there are no identified sources of funding for such activities. It is already necessary to take appropriate legal, administrative, and organisational steps for the extraction, and destruction of dumped chemical munitions in the areas of investment activities so that, among other things, the offshore wind farms can start producing energy as planned. This article analyses the legal obstacles to the clean-up of maritime investment areas from chemical weapons, and identifies the need for legal, and organisational changes to enable investors to safely carry out their planned investments in Polish maritime areas. The aim of this article is not to analyse the issue of the clean-up of chemical weapons in the Baltic Sea, although this problem is also the subject of numerous discussions on the international forum, in particular the European Parliament

NUMERICAL MODEL OF DISPOSAL SYSTEM FOR CHEMICAL WARFARE AGENTS

World War II has brought a lot of destruction to the world. Unfortunately, we can observe its effects until today. One of the effects is the tons of chemical warfare agents (CWAs) left at the Baltic Sea bottom. The paper undertakes the problem of numerical research on the innovative disposal system for chemical warfare agents. The system is being built within the Polish development project devoted to localization, transferring from the bottom to the water surface, and disposal of submerged CWA. At the beginning of the paper, the introduction with the project description is included. Then, the analysis of functional and constructional assumptions for the CWA disposal system is presented. Next, the mathematical model with the results of numerical research is inserted. In the end, conclusions from the study with the future research schedule are formulated

DETERMINATION OF THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF SHELLS OF CHEMICAL MUNITIONS IN THE ESTIMATION OF THE RATE OF CORROSION OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS DUMPED IN THE BALTIC SEA

About 15 000 t of chemical warfare agents placed in about 600 thousand pieces of ammunition and containers, were sunk in the Baltic Sea. The ammunition – mostly artillery shells and aerial bombs and containers – mainly barrels. Ammunition and containers undergo slow corrosion, which leads to releasing toxins into the environment. The corrosion rate depends on numerous environmental factors as well as on the type of ammunition bodies, material and container walls. This article presents the results of previous studies – determination of the chemical composition of munitions bodies and containers