A simple laboratory procedure has been used to obtain volatilization rate data for compounds of environmental interest. The measured parameter is the ratio of the evaporation rate constant of the chemical to the oxygen reaeration rate constant, k,C/h,o, which has been shown to be constant for volatile substances over a wide range of conditions. If the oxygen reaeration rate constant, kVo, can be estimated or measured in a natural water body or in a wastewater treatment unit, then the volatilization rate constant of the chemical under those same conditions can be estimated by multiplying the value of the ratio by the environmental value of kv0. The results suggest that the major environmental fate of many low-molecular-weight, nonpolar compounds will be volatilization.

No abstract

No abstract

The uv spectra of chemical agents GA, GB, GD, VX, HD, and L and common agent simulants have been measured in cyclohexane solution from 350 to 200 nm. The purity of the agents, measured by gas chromatographic analysis, was in general >96%. At 230 nm, the strength of the uv absorption followed the general trend L > VX > GA > HD > GD > GB > DMMP. Except for HD and L, agent spectra lacked characteristic features that will be useful for remote detection by uv sensors.