Toxicity and Fate Comparison between Several Brass and Titanium Dioxide Powders

Haley, Mark V.; Kurnas, Carl W.

doi:10.21236/ada270185

Cited by 2 publications

(8 citation statements)

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“…In this regard, brass is very toxic and may also short electrical systems. The high toxicity of brass was reported some time ago by Haley and Kurnas (1993) and has been confirmed in a more recent and comprehensive study (NRC 1999). Graphite and titanium oxide are much less toxic as indicated by both sources.…”

Section: Overviewmentioning

confidence: 56%

“…Brass has been identified as an effective obscurant material based on its infrared attenuation (Edwards et al 1992;Hartman 1995) and it is currently used by the Army for this purpose. But it also has been well documented that brass has undesirable toxicological properties (Haley and Kurnas 1993;NRC 1999). The work reported here is the result of an effort to find an effective infrared obscuration material with extinction capabilities comparable to or better than brass but without the detrimental environmental impact.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Obscurants for Infrared Countermeasures III

Owrutsky¹,

Steinhurst²,

Ladouceur³

et al. 2001

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Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to Washington Headquarters Services, Directorate for Information Operations and Reports, 1215 Jefferson Davis Highway, Suite 1204, Arlington, VA 22202-4302, and ABSTRACT (Maximum 200 words)This report describes recent results in the search for an effective obscurant material. The goal is to identify a material that has an infrared extinction comparable to or greater than that of brass but without its toxicity or negative environmental impact. Eighteen new materials were selected based on their having promising bulk optical properties as well as favorable particle size distributions or packing densities. Laboratory measurements of extinction were carried out for the powders using the NRL apparatus in which the materials are entrained in a flowing gas stream such that the mass loading and infrared transmission are determined simultaneously.Carbon black was found to be the best obscurant material of the possible alternatives to brass investigated in this laboratory. Its volume extinction coefficient is lower than that of brass (by a factor of 2-3), but if the relative toxicities are taken into account, it may be a preferable obscurant material. EXECUTIVE SUMMARYMid-infrared obscurant materials are needed by the Navy as an important component in countermeasures to defend against heat-seeking, antiship missile (ASM) attack. There has been an ongoing effort to identify successful obscuring materials that not only exhibit extinction in the spectral regions of interest, the short (3-5 urn) and long (8-12 um) IR bands, respectively, but that also satisfy other criteria concerning toxicity, environmental impact, deployment capabilities, and availability. Brass exhibits favorable obscuration properties but it is also highly toxic and environmentally detrimental. This work is aimed at finding an infrared obscurant material with extinction comparable or superior to that of brass but without its toxicity and environmental effects.This report describes recent results from this laboratory in the ongoing search for a suitable infrared (IR) obscurant. New candidate materials were selected and then characterized by laboratory extinction measurements. The measurements were performed using the NRL apparatus in which dry powder samples are entrained into a flowing gas stream such that the sample mass loading can be determined and its extinction measured by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Previous results in our effort toward finding a suitable obscurant to replace brass were reported previously in which the candidate obscurant materials boron nitride and boric acid were investigated and...

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Section: Overviewmentioning

confidence: 56%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Obscurants for Infrared Countermeasures III

Owrutsky¹,

Steinhurst²,

Ladouceur³

et al. 2001

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“…al. (2000); Haley and Kurnas (1993)]. ISO fine test dust was selected for its good conductivity and flaky structure; NaHCO 3 was selected because it is relatively nontoxic and a salt.…”

Section: Experimental Apparatusmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…al. (2000); Haley and Kurnas (1993)]. Graphite has a much lower toxicity (EPA toxicity rating of 4) and less environmental effect than brass [Owrutsky et.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Infrared Extinction Properties of Nanostructured and Conventional Particles

Pjesky

Maghirang

2012

Particulate Science and Technology

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Brass flakes and carbon-based particulates are effective obscurants in the infrared (IR) region of the electromagnetic spectrum; however, they are toxic and can cause respiratory problems and environmental concerns. There is a need to develop or identify nontoxic IR obscurants. This research was conducted to determine the potential of nanostructured particles as IR obscurants. Three commercial nanostructured particles were compared with two conventional particles and common obscurants. Experiments involved dispersing a known mass of particles into a particle chamber and measuring the IR transmission through the chamber with a Fourier transform infrared analyzer and the mass concentration with filter samplers. The size distribution of the aerosolized particles was also measured with an aerodynamic particle sizer spectrometer.From the measured data, the mean values of the mass extinction coefficient, σ m , and volume extinction coefficient, σ v , for the spectral bands of interest (i.e., 3 to 5 µm and 8 to 12 µm) were calculated. Results showed that ISO fine test dust, NaHCO 3 and NanoActive ® TiO 2 (for 3 to 5 m) appeared to be the most promising alternatives to brass or graphite flakes. By manipulating the size and/or morphology of these particles, it might be possible to enhance their IR extinction performance.

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Toxicity and Fate Comparison between Several Brass and Titanium Dioxide Powders

Cited by 2 publications

References 5 publications

Obscurants for Infrared Countermeasures III

Obscurants for Infrared Countermeasures III

Infrared Extinction Properties of Nanostructured and Conventional Particles

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