Chemical Agents of Opportunity for Terrorism: TICs & TIMs

Chemical Agents of Opportunity for Terrorism
Training Support Package
Participant Guide
Slide 16
Chemical Agents of Opportunity for Terrorism:
TICs & TIMs
Characteristics of Opioids
Agent Potency
(vs. morphine)
Morphine 1
Meperidine 0.5
Methadone 4
Fentanyl 300
Sufentanil 4500
Alfentanil 75
Remifentani 220
lCarfentanil 10,000
Wax PM, Becker CE, Curry SC. Ann Emerg Med 2003;41:700 -5.
Module Two - The Clinical Neurotoxicology of Chemical Terrorism
16
Fentanyl has a very high potency, which means it is effective in very small (microgram)
doses. Carfentanil is even more potent and would make an effective weapon if put into a
respirable form (e.g., aerosol). There are some suggestions that carfentanil was in fact
the implicated toxin.
This slide lists a number of chemicals or drugs which belong to the opioid class. They
are all used medically except for carfentanil which is used as a veterinary anesthetic in
large animals. The potency refers to how strong the drug is compared to another drug.
The more potent a drug, the greater the effect at the same dose. A drug that has 10,000
times the potency of another drug is essentially 10,000 times stronger at the same dose.
Hence, to produce a similar effect one would give a much, much smaller dose of the
more potent drug.
December 2008 Version 2.0 Page 84