Chemical Agents of Opportunity for Terrorism: TICs & TIMs

Chemical Agents of Opportunity for Terrorism
Training Support Package
Participant Guide
Slide 38
Chemical Agents of Opportunity for Terrorism:
TICs & TIMs
NATO ITF-25: High Hazard TICs
• Tissue Irritants
– ammonia
– boron trichloride
– chlorine
– fluorine
– formaldehyde
– hydrogen bromide
– hydrogen chloride
– phosgene
– phosphorus trichloride
– nitric acid
– sulfur dioxide
– sulfuric acid
Module One – Toxic Warfare: Looking Beyond Conventional Chemical Weapons
• Systemic Poisons
– arsine
– boron trifluoride
– carbon disulfide
– cyanide
– diborane
– ethylene oxide
– hydrogen fluoride
– hydrogen sulfide
– tungsten hexafluoride
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The NATO group came up with a list of 25 chemicals which they believed posed the
highest hazard. The exact ranking of the chemicals are not important (and thus in
alphabetical order). Note that many of these compounds are ones with which emergency
responders have some familiarity (such as ammonia or chlorine). These TICs can be
somewhat artificially divided into two groups: tissue irritants and systemic poisons.
The list of tissue irritants is on the left. All produce upper and lower airway (throat and
lung) irritation. There are no antidotes for this type of poisoning, and meticulous
supportive care to prevent further lung injury is critical to survival. The evaluation,
management and treatment is, for the most part, similar regardless of the specific irritant
inhalant.
We are able to respond initially to large scale incidents based on the symptoms
displayed by people who have been exposed without necessarily knowing exactly which
chemical is involved – knowing and finding out as soon as possible is still important!
The systemic poisons are on the right. They are a more heterogeneous group of
chemicals. Some like cyanide, are specific cellular asphyxiants, and this has a specific
antidote about which you will hear more about later today in the Cyanide and Fumigant
module. Another systemic poison of interest to toxicologists is hydrogen fluoride.
December 2008 Version 2.0 Page 43