Chemical Agents of Opportunity for Terrorism: TICs & TIMs

Chemical Agents of Opportunity for Terrorism
Training Support Package
Participant Guide
Slide 3
Chemical Agents of Opportunity for Terrorism:
TICs & TIMs
• Cyanide
– Salts (solids)
– Gas
• Fumigant gases
Cyanide & Fumigants
– Vikane (sulfuryl fluoride)
– Methyl bromide
– Phosphine
Module Four – Cyanide & Fumigants
3
In 2003, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a bulletin warning of
the possibility of terrorists using ventilation systems to disperse cyanide gas. Although
not part of the bulletin, fumigants could be similarly deployed.
This module reviews commercial applications, characteristics, and treatment guidelines
relating to cyanide and to the three most common fumigants regulated by the US
Department of Environmental Protection (regulation/use) and the Department of
Agriculture (application): Sulfuryl fluoride, methyl bromide, phosphine, and chloropicrin.
Cyanide under standard temperature conditions is a gas and it is used as a gas in
certain industrial uses, but it is widely available in salt (powdered) form as well. The
fumigants are all gases and are stored in high pressure cylinders.
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