J. Wyman et al., EVALUATION OF SHIPBOARD FORMATION OF A NEUROTOXICANT (TRIMETHYLOLPROPANE PHOSPHATE) FROM THERMAL-DECOMPOSITION OF SYNTHETIC AIRCRAFT ENGINELUBRICANT, American Industrial Hygiene Association journal, 54(10), 1993, pp. 584-592
MIL-L-23699 lubricants that are composed principally of trimethylolpro
pane triheptanoate (TMP) and tricresyl phosphate (TCP) have been shown
to form a neurotoxicant, trimethylolpropane phosphate (TMPP), during
pyrolysis and/or combustion. Mechanistically, TMPP is thought to irrev
ersibly inhibit the GABA-mediated inhibitory response and thereby prod
uce epileptiform clonic/tonic seizures with convulsions followed by de
ath. Thermal decomposition of MIL-L-23699 lubricant produces TMPP unde
r laboratory conditions, but this product has not been detected in the
workplace following actual fires. This study has examined whether TMP
P is produced during an actual shipboard fire by placing the synthetic
lubricant in a fire environment aboard the ex-U.S.S. Shadwell, Mobile
, Alabama. Both biological and chemical analyses were performed on the
thermally decomposed lubricant to ensure detection of the neurotoxic
material. Under the conditions of this study, the formation of TMPP du
ring a shipboard fire was confirmed. The implications of this finding
for safe management of post-fire cleanup are discussed.