I really have my suspicions about one of the break down chemicals of the Aerozine 50/50 and that was NDMA. That chemical was worse than the Aerozine itself and had no threshold for exposure. That is why no clothing that came in contact with it was suppose to be brought home for laundering. Of course, we TITAN II workers were never told of that problem until the DM AFB study in 1983 https://sites.google.com/site/titan2vetshealthandwellness/lcc-toxic-contamination/survey-results-page-1. NDMA was found inside several Titan II silo equipment areas and the blast lock during USAF tests. In my opinion if NDMA it was found in these areas it was everywhere in the complex and more concentrated in the silo. The silo exhaust shafts topside from sites 570-4, 570-6, 571-4, and 571-9 had continuous amount of NDMA that ranged from 0.81, 0.79, 0.92, and 0.61 μg/m3 respectively.
We actually should not have been in the complex without respirators according to EPA documents. The EPA made tannery workers where respirators when NDMA was found to be 1.0 - 2.0 μg/m3. There is no TWA standard for this chemical in the air which means you have to wear a respirator. Only five sites were monitored out of 54 in 1983. How many were just as bad as 571-4? All based on how much UDMH was leaking out of the missiles.
The monitoring guideline by the EPA in place now to take corrective action is
From the document link below on page 4.
"Are there any federal and state guidelines and health standards for NDMA?"
EPA has calculated a residential air screening level of 6.9 x 10-5 or.000069(μg/m3)micrograms per cubic meter (μg/m3) and an industrial air screening level of 8.8 x 10-4 μg/m3 or .00088(μg/m3) (EPA 2013).
So, the residential screening level is now at .000069(μg/m3) and we were exposed to 1.0 to 2.0 μg/m3 without any respiratory protection! You now realize were were exposed to over 28,985 times the EPA residential screening level. Animal hide Tanning Factories have been shut down due to levels at 1.0 to 2.0μg/m3 and yet we were allowed to live and work in this environment.
I have researched more on NDMA recently and found that UDMH combines with copper to generate NDMA and more chemicals. I would like to remind everyone that in 1977-1978 the USAF removed all the copper piping (large copper vents and plumbing) in the Titan II missile complexes and replaced copper with PVC. Why do I remember this? I put in a request to stop the removal of the copper in 1977 when this modification started as I thought this was a waste of government money as they were making a decision to shut the Titans down. The USAF came back with a denial of my request as they claimed the copper was deteriorating at an alarming rate with no explanation as to why. After my research, I believe the UDMH was deteriorating the copper. The following research shows why UDMH and copper created more NDMA and more nasty chemicals I was not aware of. Obviously, there was more copper in site due to wiring that the USAF could not get rid of. This article at the National Institute of Health explains it. I will give the abstract here after the link below.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7953474
ABSTRACT:
The degradation of 1,1-dimethylhydrazine (UDMH), a component of some rocket fuels, was investigated using atmospheric oxygen and hydrogen peroxide. The reactions were carried out in the presence and absence of copper catalysis and at varying pH. Reactions were also carried out in the presence of hydrazine, a constituent, along with UDMH, of the rocket fuel Aerozine-50. In the presence of copper, UDMH was degraded by air passed through the solution; the efficiency of degradation increased as the pH increased but the carcinogen N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) was formed at neutral and alkaline pH. Oxidation was not seen in the absence of copper. Production of NDMA occurred even at copper concentrations of < 1 ppm. Oxidation of UDMH with hydrogen peroxide also gave rise to NDMA. When copper was absent degradation of UDMH did not occur at acid pH but when copper was present some degradation occurred at all pH levels investigated. The production of NDMA occurred mostly at neutral and alkaline pH. In general, higher concentrations of hydrogen peroxide and copper favored the production of NDMA. Dimethylamine, methanol, formaldehyde dimethylhydrazone, formaldehyde hydrazone, and tetramethyltetrazene were also produced. The last three compounds were tested and found to be mutagenic.
Here are some facts about this terrible byproduct chemical from UDMH mixing with just air.
Page Three of the New Jersey Health Department document attached at the end of this page (click on the down arrow to download) says... Do not bring cloths home. Special training in cleaning cloths.
Nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA)
FROM THE ROCKETDYNE UCLA MEDICAL STUDY ON UDMH AND EXPOSURE TO AEROSPACE WORKERS
NDMA and nitrosomethylamine (NMA) are produced by the oxidation of UDMH and MMH (Urry et al, 1965; Stone, 1980; Loper, 1977; Carter et al., 1981; Lunn & A4 Sansone, 1994). NDMA can result from vapor phase oxidation of UDMH; UDMH can be oxidized to NDMA in open air, but oxidation by NTO or other oxygenates may be another pathway for NDMA formation (ARB, personal communication). Formation and contamination from NDMA occurred at Aerojet in Sacramento, California, and the NDMA contamination represents one of the ongoing issues at that Superfund site. Groundwater and surface water NDMA contamination occurred at Aerojet. From 1955 through 1961, at least 1,023,420 pounds of UDMH were used at Rocketdyne. After 1961, there was reduced use of UDMH, but there was some ongoing use until 1970. Environmental pollution by NDMA represents an area requiring further study although Rocketdyne/Boeing samples have apparently not detected NDMA recently.
An industrial hygiene professional, Mr. Cheng, at Edwards Air Force base in California informed us that when conducting air monitoring studies around rocket-engine test sites, he observed a high occurrence of NDMA in the air during the transport and transfer of UDMH fuels. This observation is supported by the summary of the industrial hygiene special study: “Evaluation of potential exposures, conducted at the hydrazine blending facility at the Rocky Mountain arsenal in Commerce City, Colorado.” In that study, air samples for UDMH and hydrazine were below levels of analytical sensitivity, yet air samples for NDMA were above the regulatory limit. Two studies were obtained from the U.S. Air Force that reported results from industrial hygiene surveys of Titan II rockets for hydrazine, UDMH, and NDMA; and they demonstrated that measurable levels of NDMA were widespread. Fine and Rounbehler (1981) reported NDMA formation in the rocket-fuel industry. Given the above mentioned reports on the presence of NDMA at other rocket-testing sites, we believe there was a potential for exposure to NDMA at Rocketdyne during the transfer of rocket fuel propellants and testing of rockets.
From NASA TRAINING
Cancer risk of NDMA is the driving force behind remediation of WSTF’s groundwater.
•Due to its chemical properties and cancer risk, NDMA is difficult and expensive to measure and treat.
Cancer Risk of NDMA
“The slope factor is used in risk assessments to estimate an upper-bound lifetime probability of an individual developing cancer as a result of exposure to a particular level of a potential carcinogen.”
•EPA classifies NDMA as a probable human carcinogen.
•NDMA Oral Slope Factor = 51 (mg/kg/day)-1
Is 100 times greater than TCE & PCE
TCE is oral slope factor for cancer is 0.05 per mg/kg/day
•Using EPA exposure assumptions, 1.7 ppt NDMA = 1 x 10-6cancer risk.
•NMED health risk guidance uses a 6-yr child exposure, followed by 24-yr adult exposure. Using this guidance, 1.3 ppt NDMA = 1 x 10-6cancer risk.
For each age interval "i", the cancer risk for exposure by a specified pathway is computed as:[3]
Where:
C = Concentration of the chemical in the contaminated environmental medium (soil or water) to which the person is exposed. The units are mg/kg for soil and mg/l for water.
IRi = Intake rate of the contaminated environmental medium for age bin "i". The units are mg/day for soil and l/day for water.
BWi = Body weight of the exposed person for age bin "i".
EFi = Exposure frequency for age bin "i" (days/year). This describes how often a person is exposed to the contaminated medium over the course of a typical year.
EDi = Exposure duration for age bin "i" (years). This describes how long a person is exposed to the contaminated medium over the course of their lifetime.
AT = Average days. This term specifies the length of time over which the average dose is calculated. For quantifying cancer risk a "lifetime" of 70 years is used (ie, 70 years times 365 days/year).
SF = Cancer slope factor (mg/kg-day)-1
ADAF = Age-dependant adjustment factor for age bin "i" (unitless)
The Cancer Slope Factor is used to derive the Risk Specific Dose (RSD)(mg/kg-day) for direct-acting carcinogenic agents, those that cause chemical changes (mutations) in DNA. It is also the default choice for carcinogens when there are insufficient data to demonstrate that the mode of action of the chemical is nonlinear. The RSD is often calculated based on a one-in-a-million extra risk (10−6 risk) or a one-in-a-hundred-thousand risk (10−5 risk) for other-than highly exposed individuals. The term "extra" in the definition of the RSD refers to a risk from environmental exposure to the chemical of interest above the background risk that is always present.[4]