Abstract :
Wars, and the use of certain nerve chemical warfare agents in the Arabian Gulf region triggered the interest of environmental scientists on the probable fate of these chemical agents. In case of a massive release, the main potential target might be the intakes of power desalination plants located along the Gulf shorelines. In the present work, information derived from the limited open literature is extrapolated to project the possible fate of G-nerve agents in the marine environment based on the unique characteristics of the Arabian Gulf.
Contamination of seawater with G-nerve agents can be naturally alleviated by degradation mainly through hydrolysis. Hydrolysis is found to be a relatively fast pathway for G-agents as compared to other processes such as biodegradation and photooxidation.
In general, all the local environmental factors involved in the aquatic degradation of G-nerve agents in the Gulf environment, such as temperature, pH, salinity, divalent metal content and turbulence, favor fast degradation. In case of massive releases of G-agents near the shoreline, turbulence resulting from tidal cycles will control the dissolution/hydrolysis processes. The presence of insoluble products will extend the toxicity of the insoluble agent. The estimated half-life of dissolved G-nerve agents, below saturation levels, should be in the order of a few hours in winter and less than one hour in hot summer.
