Chemical Agents of Opportunity for Terrorism: TICs & TIMs

Chemical Agents of Opportunity for Terrorism
Training Support Package
Participant Guide
Slide 30
Chemical Agents of Opportunity for Terrorism:
TICs & TIMs
Tetramine
• Du-shu-quiang (“very strong poison ”)
• Used as a rodenticide in China
– Banned in 1984
• Like many substances used as rodenticides,
tetramine is highly toxic to humans
Module Two - The Clinical Neurotoxicology of Chemical Terrorism
30
This is the first known case of TETS poisoning in the United States. The chemical's
morbidity and lethality and the lack of a known antidote present a danger to human
health in areas where TETS might be imported illegally. Just as it was used to poison the
rice in China, concern for use as a terrorist agent in the US is obvious.
While the term tetramine is generally used to refer to this toxin it also refers to several
nontoxic chemicals which can make the use of this term confusing. It causes
convulsions and over-excitation which leads to the death of rodents which is the desired
outcome; but unfortunately causes the same symptoms in humans. There are a wide
variety of substances used as rodenticides and many of them act by causing over
excitation, convulsions, and seizures. Strychnine is another example of a rodenticide
that is highly toxic and causes convulsions.
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