1.1 What is RDX? |
1.2 What happens to RDX when it enters
the environment? |
1.3 How might I be exposed to RDX? |
1.4 How can RDX enter and leave my body? |
1.5 How can RDX affect my health? |
1.6 Is there a medical test to determine
whether I have been exposed to RDX? |
1.7 What recommendations has the federal
government made to protect human health? |
1.8 Where can I get more information? |
References |
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June 1995 |
Public Health Statement |
for |
RDX |
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This Public Health Statement is the
summary chapter from the Toxicological
Profile for RDX. It is one in a series of Public Health
Statements about hazardous substances and their health effects.
A shorter version, the ToxFAQs™,
is also available. This information is important because this
substance may harm you. The effects of exposure to any hazardous
substance depend on the dose, the duration, how you are exposed,
personal traits and habits, and whether other chemicals are
present. For more information, call the ATSDR Information
Center at 1-888-422-8737.
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This statement was prepared to give you
information about RDX and to emphasize the human health effects
that may result from exposure to it. The Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) has identified 1,397 hazardous waste
sites as the most serious in the nation. These sites
make up the National Priorities List (NPL) and are the sites
targeted for long-term federal clean-up activities.
RDX has been found in at least 16 of the sites on the NPL.
However, the number of NPL sites evaluated for RDX is not
known. As EPA evaluates more sites, the number of sites
at which RDX is found may increase. This information
is important because exposure to RDX may cause harmful health
effects and because these sites are potential or actual sources
of human exposure to RDX.
When a substance is released from a large
area, such as an industrial plant, or from a container, such
as a drum or bottle, it enters the environment. This
release does not always lead to exposure. You can be
exposed to a substance only when you come in contact with
it. You may be exposed by breathing, eating, or drinking
substances containing the substance or by skin contact with
it.
If you are exposed to a substance such
as RDX, many factors will determine whether harmful health
effects will occur and what the type and severity of those
health effects will be. These factors include the dose
(how much), the duration (how long), the route or pathway
by which you are exposed (breathing, eating, drinking, or
skin contact), the other chemicals to which you are exposed,
and your individual characteristics such as age, sex, nutritional
status, family traits, lifestyle, and state of health.
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1.1
What is RDX? |
RDX stands for Royal Demolition
eXplosive. It is also known as cyclonite or hexogen.
The chemical name for RDX is 1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine.
It is a white powder and is very explosive. It is used
as an explosive and also combined with other ingredients in
plastic explosives. Its odor and taste are unknown.
It is a synthetic product that does not occur naturally in
the environment. It creates fumes when it is burned
with other substances.
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1.2
What happens to RDX when it enters the environment? |
RDX particles can enter the air when
it is disposed of by burning. RDX can enter the water
from disposal of waste water from Army ammunition plants,
and can enter water or soil from spills or leaks from improper
disposal at these plants or at hazardous waste sites.
RDX dissolves very slowly and to a limited extent in water,
and it also evaporates very slowly from water. It does
not cling to soil very strongly and can get into the groundwater
from soil. RDX can be broken down in air and water in
a few hours, but it breaks down more slowly in soil.
RDX does not build up in fish or in people.
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1.3
How might I be exposed to RDX? |
Few people will be exposed to RDX.
Less than 500 people are known to work with RDX, but these
people can breathe dust with RDX in it or get RDX on their
skin. You may be exposed to RDX by drinking contaminated
water or by touching contaminated soil if you live near factories
that produce RDX. RDX has been found in water and soil
at some ammunition plants. Surface water samples contained
from nondetectable to 36.9 parts of RDX per 1 million parts
(ppm) of water. Groundwater samples had levels of 0.001–14.1
ppm. RDX is present at higher levels in soil, with concentrations
ranging from less than 5 ppm to 602 ppm. You may be
exposed to RDX in the water or soil if it is disposed of improperly.
We do not know how much might be in food or drinking water
or how much is in the air.
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1.4
How can RDX enter and leave my body? |
RDX can get into your lungs if you breathe
in the fumes of burning RDX or breathe in the dust from powdered
RDX. It can also enter your body if it is in water that
you drink. Soldiers have accidentally eaten it when
they used it as cooking fuel and it got on their food.
It may also pass through the skin into the bloodstream or
enter through cuts or breaks in the skin. If you consume
RDX, it enters your bloodstream very slowly. We do not
know how much can enter through the lungs or skin. The
most likely route of exposure at or near hazardous waste sites
is contaminated drinking water. We know that it changes
into other chemicals in your body, but we do not know which
chemicals it changes to. Some of these other chemicals
may be hazardous to your health. RDX will leave your
body in the breath and urine within a few days.
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1.5
How can RDX affect my health? |
RDX can cause seizures (a problem of
the nervous system) in humans and animals when large amounts
are inhaled or eaten. We do not know the effects of
long-term, low-level exposure on the nervous system.
No other significant health effects have been seen in humans.
Rats and mice have had decreased body weights and slight liver
and kidney damage from eating RDX for 3 months or more.
We do not know if RDX causes cancer in people, but it did
cause liver tumors in mice. We do not know whether RDX
causes birth defects in humans; it did not cause birth defects
in rabbits, but it did result in smaller offspring in rats.
We also do not know whether RDX affects reproduction in people.
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1.6
Is there a medical test to determine whether I have been exposed
to RDX? |
Medical tests are available to determine
whether you have been exposed to RDX. These tests measure
RDX levels in your blood or urine. However, these tests
can only be used if you have come in contact with RDX in the
last few days. These tests can determine if you have
been exposed to RDX, but they cannot be used to determine
how much RDX entered your body. The tests are not routinely
available in the doctor's office, but may be ordered by the
doctor. They cannot be used to determine long-term health
effects from RDX. The usual immediate health effects
are seizures, muscle twitching, or vomiting from very high
exposures. These would probably occur before you had
the blood or urine test.
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1.7
What recommendations has the federal government made to protect
human health? |
The government has developed regulations
and guidelines for RDX to protect the public from potential
harmful health effects of the chemical. The Department
of Transportation has many regulations on the transportation
of explosives, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
has recommended a drinking water guideline of 2 micrograms
per liter (µg/L) for RDX.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration
(OSHA) regulates levels of RDX in the workplace. The
maximum allowable amount of RDX in workroom air during an
8-hour workday, 40-hour workweek, is 1.5 milligrams per cubic
meter (mg/m³). People's health will probably
not be affected by being exposed to this amount of RDX.
The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
recommends guidelines for RDX in the workplace. The
NIOSH recommended exposure limit (REL) for RDX during an 8-hour
workday, 40-hour workweek is 1.5 mg/m³. The
NIOSH short-term exposure limit (STEL), which is the highest
level of RDX that they recommend workers be exposed to for
15 minutes, is 3.0 mg/m³.
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1.8 Where can I get more information? |
If you have any more questions or concerns, please contact
your community or state health or environmental quality department or:
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
Division of Toxicology
1600 Clifton Road NE, Mailstop F-32
Atlanta, GA 30333
Information line and technical assistance:
Phone: 888-422-8737
FAX: (770)-488-4178
ATSDR can also tell you the location of occupational and environmental health
clinics. These clinics specialize in recognizing, evaluating, and treating illnesses
resulting from exposure to hazardous substances.
To order toxicological profiles, contact:
National Technical Information Service
5285 Port Royal Road
Springfield, VA 22161
Phone: 800-553-6847 or 703-605-6000
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References |
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease
Registry (ATSDR). 1995. Toxicological
profile for RDX. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services, Public Health Service.
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