Military Armaments and Arsenals as a Source of Emerging Environmental Contaminants
Jaspreet Singh and Amandeep Singh
2025/06/27
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.15756564

ABSTRACT
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and other chemical warfare agents (CWAs) are important emerging environmental contaminants (EECs) among other different kinds of pollutants released in the environment by the military armaments and arsenals. Environmental deterioration by military activities always remained unattended but they often have far-reaching impacts on the soil and biota. Modern nuclear weapons, long-lived chemicals, persistent toxic contaminates such as dioxins may have drastic impacts over generations. However, data and studies regarding the impact of military ammunition on humans and environment is scarce. Ongoing destruction of the environment has raised awareness about the devastating impact of military activities on the nature. This short communication is a means of creating awareness among scientific community about the drastic impact of EECs produced and spread by military operations on the life supporting environment on our blue planet which is a common home for all the human beings and is a message of universal brotherhood.
AUTHOR AFFILIATIONS
1 PG Department of Biotechnology, Khalsa College Amritsar, Punjab, India
2 PG Department of Zoology, Khalsa College Amritsar, Punjab, India
CITATION
Singh J and Singh A (2025) Military Armaments and Arsenals as a Source of Emerging Environmental Contaminants. Environmental Science Archives 4(1): 389-394.
REFERENCES
Albright RD (2012) Cleanup of chemical and explosive munitions: Locating, identifying contaminants, and planning for environmental remediation of land and sea military ranges and ordnance dumpsite. Oxford: Elsevier.
Arias EA, Mallavarapu M and Naidu R (2015) Identification of the source of PFOS and PFOA contamination at a military air base site. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 187: 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-014-4111-0
ATSDR (Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry) (2024) Health effects linked with trichloroethylene (TCE), tetrachloroethylene (PCE), benzene, and vinyl chloride exposure. Available at: https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/camp-lejeune/risk-factors/health-effects-linked-with-trichloroethylene-tce-tetrachloroethylene-pce-benzene-and-vinyl.html
Bhamra S (2024) Addressing disproportionate impacts of environmental degradation on marginalized communities. EnvironBuzz Magazine, 5 July. Available at: https://environbuzz.com/addressing-disproportionate-impacts-of-environmental-degradation-on-marginalized-communities/
Brochu S and Thiboutot S (2019) Greener munitions. In: Cumming AS and Johnson MC (eds) Energetic materials and munitions – life cycle management, environmental impact and demilitarization. pp.75–102.
Dudley JP, Ginsberg JR, Plumptre AJ, Hart JA and Campos LC (2002) Effects of war and civil strife on wildlife and habitats. Conservation Biology 16(2): 319–329. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1523-1739.2002.00306.x.
European Commission. (2025) Proposal for a Council Decision on the position to be taken on behalf of the European Union at the twelfth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants. COM(2025) 50 final. Available at: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52025PC0050
Francis RA (2011) The impacts of modern warfare on freshwater ecosystems. Environmental Management 48:985–999. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-024-01835-8
Gunnarsdóttir MJ (2024) Ongoing legacy contamination from a military radar station in Iceland: a case study. Environmental Science: Advances, 3, pp. 972–982. Available at: https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlehtml/2024/va/d4va00049h
Krajnović Z and Smolek A (2024) Impact of military activities on the environment. Strategos 8(2):89–124.
Leitenberg M (2006) Deaths in Wars and Conflicts in the 20th Century, 3rd ed. Available from the Cornell University Peace Studies Program, Ithaca, NY, USA. ISSN 1075-4857.
Lewis J, Sjöström J, Skyllberg U and Hägglund L (2010) Distribution, chemical speciation, and mobility of lead and antimony originating from small arms ammunition in a coarse‐grained unsaturated surface sand. Journal of Environmental Quality 39(3):863–870. https://doi.org/10.2134/jeq2009.0211
Machlis GE and Hanson T (2008) Warfare ecology. BioScience 58: 729–736. https://doi.org/10.1641/B580809.
Migliorini M, Pigino G, Bianchi N, Bernini F and Leonzio C (2004) The effects of heavy metal contamination on the soil arthropod community of a shooting range. Environmental Pollution 129(2): 331–340. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2003.09.025
Nunes LM, Zhu YG, Stigter TY, Monteiro JP and Teixeira MR (2011) Environmental impacts on soil and groundwater at airports: origin, contaminants of concern and environmental risks. Journal of Environmental Monitoring 13(11): 3026–3039.
Orehovec Z, et al. (2004) Chemical Warfare without Chemical Weapons – Response. Proceedings of NATO Summit Forum on Business and Security, Berlin, 10-15 March.
Paunović N (2017) Zaštita životne sredine u oružanim sukobima: Od progresa do regresa. Međunarodno pravo 1: 103-125.
Pereira P, Bašić F, Bogunovic I and Barcelo D (2022) Russian-Ukrainian war impacts the total environment. Science of The Total Environment 837: 155865. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.155865
Pierce DA and Preston DL (2000) Radiation-related cancer risks at low doses among atomic bomb survivors. Radiation Research 154(2): 178–186. https://doi.org/10.1667/0033-7587
Popper AN and Hastings MC (2009) The effects of human-generated sound on fish. Integrative Zoology 4(1): 43–52.
Prăvălie R (2014) Nuclear weapons tests and environmental consequences: a global perspective. Ambio 43(6): 729-744.
Protopsaltis C (2012) Air pollution caused by war activity. Air Pollut (157): 93.
Rodríguez-Seijo A, Fernández-Calviño D, Arias-Estévez M and Arenas-Lago D (2024) Effects of military training, warfare and civilian ammunition debris on the soil organisms: an ecotoxicological review. Biology and Fertility of Soils 60(6): 813-844.
Sarkees MR, Wayman FW and Singer JD (2003) Inter-state, intra-state, and extra-state wars: a comprehensive look at their distribution over time, 1816–1997. International Studies Quarterly 47(1): 49–70.
Shukla S, Mbingwa G, Khanna S, Dalal J, Sankhyan D, Malik A, and Badhwar N (2023) Environment and health hazards due to military metal pollution: A review. Environmental Nanotechnology, Monitoring & Management 20: 100857. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enmm.2023.100857
Shumilova O, Petrova V, Zelenko A, Novak D (2025) Destruction of Ukraine’s Kakhovka dam left behind a toxic legacy. New Scientist, 13 March. Available at: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2472177-destruction-of-ukraines-kakhovka-dam-left-behind-a-toxic-legacy
Tang Z, Engel BA, Pijanowski BC, and Lim KJ (2005) Forecasting land use change and its environmental impact at a watershed scale. Journal of Environmental Management 76(1): 35–45.
Warren SD, Holbrook SW, Dale DA, Whelan NL, Elyn M, Grimm W, and Jentsch A (2007) Biodiversity and the heterogeneous disturbance regime on military training lands. Restoration Ecology 15(4): 606–612.
Yager LY, Jones J, and Miller DL (2009) Military training and road effects on Imperata cylindrica (L.) Beauv.(Cogongrass). Southeastern Naturalist 8(4): 695–708.
Yang X, North R and Romney C (2003) Worldwide nuclear explosions. International Geophysics 81(B): 1595–1600. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0074-6142(03)80279-6.
Yilmaz B, Terekeci H, Sandal S, Kelestimur F (2020) Endocrine disrupting chemicals: exposure, effects on human health, mechanism of action, models for testing and strategies for prevention. Reviews in Endocrine and Metabolic Disorders, 21(1): 127–147. Available at: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11154-019-09521-z

License: Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution, and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third-party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. Visit for more details http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.