CHEMICAL SAFETY OF US-NAVY FLEET SODA LIME

Contamination was suspected of U.S. Navy Fleet soda lime (High Perform ance Sodasorb) when an ammonia-like odor was reported during its use i n August 1992. This material contained indicator dye and was used for carbon dioxide absorption during diving. This incident had a major imp act on the U.S Navy diving program when the Navy temporarily banned us e of Sodasorb and authorized Sofnolime as an interim replacement. The Naval Medical Research Institute was assigned to investigate. Testing involved sampling from the headspace (gas space) inside closed buckets and from an apparatus simulating conditions during operational diving . Volatile organic compounds were analyzed by gas chromatography and m ass spectrometry; ammonia and amines were measured by infrared spectro scopy. Significant amounts of ammonia (up to 30 ppm), ethyl and diethy l amines (up to several ppm), and various aliphatic hydrocarbons (up t o 60 ppm) were detected during testing of both Sodasorb and Sofnolime. Contaminants were slowly removed by gas flow and did not return. The source(s) of the ammonia and amines are unknown, although they may res ult from the breakdown of the indicator dye. Hydrocarbon contamination seems to result from the materials of which the bucket is constructed . Unfortunately, evaluation of potential hazards associated with this contamination is difficult, due in part to the large number of variabl es of operational use and the absence of appropriate exposure limits. Based on these findings, the U.S. Navy has begun to phase in, for all diving, non-indicating soda lime that will be required to meet defined contaminant limits.