Chemical Agents of Opportunity for Terrorism: TICs & TIMs

Chemical Agents of Opportunity for Terrorism
Training Support Package
Participant Guide
Slide 6
Chemical Agents of Opportunity for Terrorism:
TICs & TIMs
Official “Battlefield”
Chemical Warfare Agents
• Purpose Designed Warfare
Agents
• Dual Use Industrial
Chemicals
– Nerve ( eg. Sarin, VX)
– Blister ( eg. Mustard)
– Blood ( eg. CN)
– Choking ( eg.Phosgene )
– 1° focus of chemical defense
programs in past
– Less emphasis on industrial
chemicals as a military threat
Module One – Toxic Warfare: Looking Beyond Conventional Chemical Weapons
6
This course covers Chemical Agents of Opportunity- a novel approach to this subject of
chemical terrorism. In general, these agents do not have any civilian use and are
“purpose designed” for warfare or human harm, and they are very difficult to obtain.
However, other battleground agents are actually dual use industrial chemicals. While the
military has weaponized them and some of them have seen battlefield use in the past,
they also have significant industrial applications. They are not the types of chemicals
that can be solely restricted to military use and military stockpiles. Given their dual use,
they are much more accessible than the military-use only agents.
This module will not be covering the “select agent” chemicals. Sarin and VX are two
potent organophosphorus compounds developed for use by the military. They are called
nerve agents due to their ability to produce prominent neuromuscular weakness
compared to the classical organophosphorus agents like parathion, which produces
more muscarinic findings (e.g., salivation, bronchorrhea, miosis). Sulfur mustard is one
example of a vesicant (blister forming) agent, also developed for military use. The nerve
agents and blister agents do not have any conventional or industrial use. Demilitarization
programs are reducing the stockpiles of these agents.
The blood agents include cyanide and cyanogen chloride. These have military use and
also have industrial uses such as in mining and chemical syntheses.
The choking agents include irritant gases such as phosgene and chlorine. These have
proven military use in WWI and still have widespread industrial applications.
These categorization terms, such as choking and blood agents, were developed by the
military and not semantically medical in use. Blood agent, for example, is a vague term
that could suggest that the toxin damages the blood. But in military use, it suggests that
the toxin inhibits the oxygen carrying capacity of the blood. This too is incorrect, since
cyanide affects oxygen utilization not its delivery.
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