Exposure to Complex Environmental Health Challenges: Agent Orange and Sodium Dichromate

Durability of adhesive bonded joints in moisture and salt spray environments is essential to USAF aircraft. Structural bonding technology for aerospace applications has depended for many years on the preparation of aluminum surfaces by a sulfuric acid/sodium dichromate (FPL etch) treatment. Recently, specific thin film anodizing techniques, phosphoric acid, and chromic acid anodizing have been developed which not only provide good initial bond strengths but vastly improved environmental durability. These thin anodic films are in contrast to the commonly used thick anodic films such as the sulfuric acid or "hard" sulfuric acid anodic films which are highly corrosion resistant in themselves, but which do not provide good initial bond strengths, particularly in low temperature peel.The objective of this study was to determine the characteristics of anodic films on aluminum alloys that make them corrosion resistant. The chemical composition, physical morphology and structure, and mechanical properties of the thin oxide films were to be defined and correlated with the environmental stability of these surfaces in humidity and salt spray. It is anticipated that anodic film characteristics and corrosion resistance will vary with the anodizing processing conditions.

Download Full-text

Applications of CCEM to Environmental Health Problems

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100117558 ◽

1985 ◽

Vol 43 ◽

pp. 102-103

Author(s):

R. J. Lee ◽

J. S. Walker

Keyword(s):

Electron Microscopy ◽

Image Analysis ◽

Environmental Health ◽

Computer Control ◽

External Agent ◽

External Agents ◽

Computer Controlled ◽

Primitive State ◽

Textural Changes ◽

General Aspects

Electron microscopy (EM), with the advent of computer control and image analysis techniques, is rapidly evolving from an interpretative science into a quantitative technique. Electron microscopy is potentially of value in two general aspects of environmental health: exposure and diagnosis.In diagnosis, electron microscopy is essentially an extension of optical microscopy. The goal is to characterize cellular changes induced by external agents. The external agent could be any foreign material, chemicals, or even stress. The use of electron microscopy as a diagnostic tool is well- developed, but computer-controlled electron microscopy (CCEM) has had only limited impact, mainly because it is fairly new and many institutions lack the resources to acquire the capability. In addition, major contributions to diagnosis will come from CCEM only when image analysis (IA) and processing algorithms are developed which allow the morphological and textural changes recognized by experienced medical practioners to be quantified. The application of IA techniques to compare cellular structure is still in a primitive state.

Download Full-text