| Abstract | The Defense Research and Development Canada (DRDC, Valcartier, QC) is developing new green explosive and propellant formulations, as part of a sustainable training strategy for the Canadian Army. The present research responds to the needs of DRDC by providing necessary physicochemical, chemical, and ecotoxicological data to help understand the environmental transport, fate and impact of new formulations developed within the RIGHTTRAC (Revolutionary Insensitive, Green and Healthier Training Technology with Reduced Adverse Contamination) project. The present study summarizes the dissolution, transport, transformation, and ecotoxicity of three propellant formulations, SP 7993, SP Unique, and CMR170, and their soluble components, NG, DPA, ATEC, MC, and EC. In addition, it gathers ecotoxicity data for an explosive formulation, GIM, which has been aged for periods varying from 6 to 24 months. Amongst the three propellant formulations tested, the single base formulation SP 7993 was found to be the most stable in terms of dissolution, even more stable than the formulation New Green M1 identified as the most stable of previously studied formulations. If scattered on soil surface and subjected to precipitations SP 7993 will give rise to low leakage of ATEC and the latter will not persist in soil. When comparing the two double base formulations, CRM170 appeared to be more stable than SP Unique. Although the MC/graphite coating present in CMR170 might have been responsible for the higher stability this could not be ascertained due to the concomitant higher NC content of CMR170, which also decreased its ability to dissolve. |
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