Contact: Robert Irion (408/459-2495)

RESEARCH AND PUBLIC CONSULTATION ARE KEY TO DESTROYING CHEMICAL WEAPONS, SAYS TEAM OF SCIENTISTS

NOTE: This press release is EMBARGOED until 1:00 p.m. EST Thursday, November 17, when task force chairman Joseph Bunnett will speak at the U.S. Army's Scientific Conference on Chemical and Biological Defense Research. The conference is at the Edgewood Area Conference Center, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland.

ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, MD--Countries trying to destroy their stockpiles of chemical weapons should carry out additional basic research and carefully inform the public about the pros and cons of various destruction methods, according to an international task force of civilian and military researchers.

In a new report, the task force identified eight scientific problems that hinder the speedy eradication of huge reserves of "mustard," nerve toxins, and other inhumane chemical relics of war. But gaps in scientific knowledge are only part of the dilemma. Just as damaging, the report states, is fierce opposition from citizens near storage sites--protests that are complicated by ignorance about the risks of moving and destroying chemical warfare agents.

"Public worries have gone beyond the seriousness of the problem," says Joseph Bunnett, chairman of the task force and professor emeritus of chemistry at the University of California, Santa Cruz. "It was a mistake for military authorities not to consult with the public and take them into confidence when they decided more than ten years ago that incinerating these weapons was the best way to destroy them."

Fourteen chemists and military experts on the task force, representing nine countries, have studied scientific aspects of the destruction of chemical weapons since 1991. The group works under the auspices of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC). In early September, the scientists met in Rome to discuss and approve their latest recommendations. Bunnett summarized the report today (November 17) at the U.S. Army's Scientific Conference on Chemical and Biological Defense Research.

Worldwide agreement that chemical weapons must be destroyed has pushed technological issues to the forefront, the report states. The issues are not trivial. Although chemists and engineers have learned much about the properties of chemical warfare agents and ways to destroy them, both technological uncertainties and public outrage have ground the process to a virtual standstill. As a result, enormous stockpiles still exist--most notably the 30,000 tons stored at eight military bases in the continental U.S. and an even larger amount in the former Soviet Union.

Further basic research in several areas would do much to break the deadlock, the task force advises. For example, citizens worry that an accident or incomplete burning might release small amounts of chemical warfare agents into the environment near their homes. Natural processes, such as interactions with sunlight, water, organisms in the soil, or reactive compounds in the air, are likely to degrade the agents quite rapidly. Laboratory research could define those degradation rates and possibly offer evidence that minor leaks would not pose serious health threats.

Research also could lead to better ways of detecting leaks or spills both inside and outside destruction facilities, the report states. "Technology exists to monitor for leaks along natural-gas pipelines," says Bunnett. "In principle, it is possible to make similar devices to detect trace amounts of a chemical warfare agent and identify it immediately. This would help ease the concerns of neighbors."

Other recommendations of the task force include:

-- Develop techniques to determine the types of agents in old weapons found in lakes and seas or dug up on battlefields or old military posts from World War I and II.

-- Refine knowledge of the chemistry of "mustard," an agent that often forms dangerous gels or crusty solids in old containers.

-- Develop ways to detect, with great accuracy, whether tiny amounts of an agent survive a destruction process.

-- Investigate whether chemical brines that result from burning or neutralizing an agent might safely be discharged into the ocean.

Bunnett notes that the U.S. Army largely stopped its research program on how to destroy chemical warfare agents in 1982, when it concluded that incinerating the agents and their containers was the best approach. Recently, reports from the National Research Council- -to which Bunnett contributed--have noted that other approaches also may be feasible, such as chemically neutralizing the agents. In response, some research has resumed, both within the Army and by civilian scientists. The IUPAC task force urges a more concerted effort. "There is still time to do such research," Bunnett says. "It is insurance against future trouble, and it is a rock-bottom necessity."

Meanwhile, estimated costs for the destruction program continue to soar--over $8 billion in the U.S. alone--and public disapproval of incineration shows few signs of abating. The task force recommends that chemists themselves can help address the latter problem by reaching out to media and the lay public. Bunnett, for example, has spoken to citizens near storage sites in Alabama and Oregon and is writing an article for a popular magazine in Russia.

Editor's notes: For advance interviews, you may reach Joseph Bunnett at his UC Santa Cruz office through Friday, November 11, at (408) 459-2261, or at his home through Saturday, November 12, at (408) 423-3852. For more information about the conference, call coordinator Lisa McCormick at (804) 865-7604. A six-page summary of the recommendations of the task force is available from the UCSC Public Information office at (408) 459-2495.

This release is also available on UC NewsWire. To access by modem, dial (209) 244-6971.

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