Chemical Agents of Opportunity for Terrorism: TICs & TIMs

Chemical Agents of Opportunity for Terrorism
Training Support Package
Participant Guide
Slide 37
Chemical Agents of Opportunity for Terrorism:
TICs & TIMs
Prioritizing Chemicals of Concern: NATO
ITF-25 Definition of TICs – 1996
• High Production Volume Chemicals ( HPVs)
– produced in quantities > 30 tons (60,000 pounds) in a single fac ility
• High Toxicity
– LCt50 by inhalation < 100,000 mg/min/M3
• Appreciable vapor pressure at 20 °C
– Thus, airborne hazards only
• Hazard Index = {(toxicity)x(state)x(distribution)x(producers)}
– maximum value of 625
Module One – Toxic Warfare: Looking Beyond Conventional Chemical Weapons
37
How do we begin to prioritize among the hundreds of thousands of chemicals or
chemical classes to determine which ones should receive our immediate attention and
action
One of the first attempts to come up with a prioritization list was undertaken by NATO
(North Atlantic Treaty Organization) in 1996. Known as the NATO ITF-25 (International
Task Force), this group performed a Hazard Vulnerability Assessment prioritizing
chemicals based on their production volume of >30 tons per year in a single facility and
their inherent toxicity based on an LCt50 of < 100,000. This served as the original
definition of a TIC.
Those that met these criteria were then further investigated based on their Hazard Index
(HI), which itself was based on four factors. These factors were global extent of
distribution, number of producers, inherent toxicity, and physical state (see Instructor
Note for details)
Toxicity is determined here as the concentration that kills 50% of animals (and
extrapolated to humans). If the LCt50(LD50 in mg/m 3 x time in min) is less than 100,000
it is considered in this formula to be highly toxic. The lower the LCt50, the more toxic the
agent, since a lower dose is lethal.
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