Emission factors for gases and particle-bound substances produced by firing lead-free small-caliber ammunition.

Lead-free ammunition is becoming increasingly popular because of the environmental and human health issues associated with the use of leaded ammunition. However, there is a lack of data on the emissions produced by firing such ammunition. We report emission factors for toxic gases and particle-bound compounds produced by firing lead-free ammunition in a test chamber. Carbon monoxide, ammonia, and hydrogen cyanide levels within the chamber were analysed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, while total suspended particles and respirable particles were determined gravimetrically. The metal content of the particulate emissions was determined and the associated organic compounds were characterized in detail using a method based on thermal desorption coupled to gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. The particulate matter (∼30 mg/round) consisted primarily of metals such as Cu, Zn, and Fe along with soot arising from incomplete combustion. Nitrogen-containing heterocyclic aromatic compounds such as carbazole, quinolone, and phenazine were responsible for some of the 25 most significant chromatographic peaks, together with PAHs, diphenylamine, and phthalates. Emission factors were determined for PAHs and oxygenated PAHs; the latter were less abundant in the gun smoke particles than in domestic dust and diesel combustion smoke. This may be due to the oxygen-deficient conditions that occur when the gun is fired. By using an electrical low pressure impactor, it was demonstrated that more than 90% of the particles produced immediately after firing the weapon had diameters of less than 30 nm, and so most of the gun smoke particles belonged to the nanoparticle regime.

Evaluation of a combination of continuum and truss finite elements in a model of passive and active muscle tissue.

The numerical method of finite elements (FE) is a powerful tool for analysing stresses and strains in the human body. One area of increasing interest is the skeletal musculature. This study evaluated modelling of skeletal muscle tissue using a combination of passive non-linear, viscoelastic solid elements and active Hill-type truss elements, the super-positioned muscle finite element (SMFE). The performance of the combined materials and elements was evaluated for eccentric motions by simulating a tensile experiment from a published study on a stimulated rabbit muscle including three different strain rates. It was also evaluated for isometric and concentric contractions. The resulting stress-strain curves had the same overall pattern as the experiments, with the main limitation being sensitivity to the active force-length relation. It was concluded that the SMFE could model active and passive muscle tissue at constant rate elongations for strains below failure, as well as isometric and concentric contractions.