Over the last 20 years, the environmental and toxicological impact of munitions over their life cycle has become more important to nations and the international community. This gathering interest has led researchers across many field including energetics and toxicology to devote scarce resources in understanding the impact of this complex problem. Recent changes to national and European legislation (i.e. REACH) and improved understanding of chemical toxicity has also focussed attention towards energetic materials and compositions. As part of this renewed attention into environmental impact of munitions, MSIAC has carried out a review of the literature and work being performed within the nations and NATO. To aid the review process, a case study was developed using two energetic material compositions; Comp B and PBXN-109. The life cycle of these materials were reviewed from manufacture through to disposal. At each stage the potential environmental impact, including pristine and reacted material, was considered. Using the Comp B data from the review, this paper will discuss the range of physical, mechanical, chemical and toxicological parameters that are needed to describe the complex problem. A number of models related to toxicity will be discussed and evaluated against the compositions. A subsequent output of this review was the upgrade of the Energetic Materials Compendium (EMC) to include the parameters proposed above. Expanding the capability of the database will increase the value of EMC to the MSIAC member nations.
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