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Natural substances found in some foods and in certain plants can contain trace amounts of cyanide, including cassava, lima beans, and almonds. Substantial amounts of chemicals that metabolize to cyanide can be found in the pits and seeds of fruits such as apricots, apples, and peaches, though the edible parts of these plants do not contain these chemicals. It is also contained in cigarette smoke and the combustion products of synthetic materials such as plastics.

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Blood agents are generally inhaled, and are circulated throughout the body via the blood vessels in the lungs. They impede the ability of the blood cells to use oxygen and to transfer it to the other organs, effectively causing the body to suffocate.

 

Blood Agents

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In 2016, as U.S. and Russian-led bombings decimated many of the facilities in Iraq and Syria that had been used by the Islamic State to produce chemical and other weapons, the Islamic State reportedly turned to the practice of making crude homemade weapons using common materials, including chemicals. While many may say that homemade weapons are preferable to manufactured ones, they are still potentially very harmful. Buying precursors for the synthesis of chemical WMDs is

remarkably easy to do. Of course, one needs some chemical expertise and equipment to prepare these agents effectively and without causing personal harm. This type of chemical equipment and expertise are also relatively common, especially in the Internet age. The Aum Shinrikyo was able to synthesize several types of chemical weapons, with the Sarin gas used in the Tokyo subway producing devastating effects while only being of moderate purity.

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Easy to Make

Homemade Chemicals

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Immediately after exposure, the victim may experience excessive tearing, blurred vision, red and burning eyes, a runny nose, burning and swelling to the nose and mouth, difficulty swallowing, drooling, chest tightness, coughing, choking sensation, wheezing, shortness of breath, skin rash, nausea, and vomiting. Exposure to a large dose of riot control agent, especially in a closed setting, may lead to blindness, glaucoma, respiratory failure, and even immediate death due to severe chemical burns to the throat and lungs.

 

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Riot control agents, sometimes referred to as “tear gas,” are chemicals that are designed to temporarily debilitate by causing irritation to the eyes, mouth, throat, lungs, and skin. These agents comprise several different chemical compounds, the most common being chloroacetophenone (CN) and chlorobenzylidenemalononitrile (CS). Other examples include chloropicrin (PS, which is also used as a fumigant), bromobenzylcyanide (CA), dibenzoxazepine (CR), and combinations of these chemicals.

 

Incapacitation/Riot Control Agents

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Hydrogen cyanide is a colorless liquid at room temperature, but is most lethal when inhaled in gaseous form. It can also be absorbed through the skin. One reason for its rare use in warfare is that its high volatility makes it difficult to disperse in adequate concentrations; it has the potential to be far more effective in enclosed spaces.

This is an image of Zyklon B canisters. This chemical was used in Nazi Germany in the

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Blood agents are generally inhaled, and are circulated throughout the body via the blood vessels in the lungs. They impede the ability of the blood cells to use oxygen and to transfer it to the other organs, effectively causing the body to suffocate.

 

Blood Agents

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As their name suggests, riot control agents are most commonly used by law enforcement officials in the United States for crowd control. They are also used by individuals for self-defense purposes. These types of agents are better known as mace or pepper spray. Riot control agents were the topic of long and heated debates during the CWC negotiations, at which their use in warfare was prohibited but not in law enforcement. Generally speaking, riot control agents have never widely been used as a weapon of war, but these agents do have the potential for use by terrorists.

 

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Riot control agents, sometimes referred to as “tear gas,” are chemicals that are designed to temporarily debilitate by causing irritation to the eyes, mouth, throat, lungs, and skin. These agents comprise several different chemical compounds, the most common being chloroacetophenone (CN) and chlorobenzylidenemalononitrile (CS). Other examples include chloropicrin (PS, which is also used as a fumigant), bromobenzylcyanide (CA), dibenzoxazepine (CR), and combinations of these chemicals.

 

p g

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In 2016, as U.S. and Russian-led bombings decimated many of the facilities in Iraq and Syria that had been used by the Islamic State to produce chemical and other weapons, the Islamic State reportedly turned to the practice of making crude homemade weapons using common materials, including chemicals. While many may say that homemade weapons are preferable to manufactured ones, they are still potentially very harmful. The fears that terrorist organization such as al-Qaeda and the

Islamic State will obtain sophisticated WMDs have dominated the discussion for years, and vast amounts of money have been invested by U.S. intelligence and their allies to keep this from happening. But for the most part, al-Qaeda has relied on homemade weapons created from common materials such as nail-polish remover and fertilizer when plotting attacks in Europe and the United States. While these simple bombs lack the potential for destruction of WMDs and are less reliable than conventional weapons, some attacks involving them have caused considerable destruction. One example was the kitchen-built backpack bombs that killed 52 people in London’s subway system in 2005.

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Comparison to WMDs

Homemade Chemicals

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In 2016, as U.S. and Russian-led bombings decimated many of the facilities in Iraq and Syria that had been used by the Islamic State to produce chemical and other weapons, the Islamic State reportedly turned to the practice of making crude homemade weapons using common materials, including chemicals. While many may say that homemade weapons are preferable to manufactured ones, they are still potentially very harmful. The fears that terrorist organization such as al-Qaeda and the

Islamic State will obtain sophisticated WMDs have dominated the discussion for years, and vast amounts of money have been invested by U.S. intelligence and their allies to keep this from happening. But for the most part, al-Qaeda has relied on homemade weapons created from common materials such as nail-polish remover and fertilizer when plotting attacks in Europe and the United States. While these simple bombs lack the potential for destruction of WMDs and are less reliable than conventional weapons, some attacks involving them have caused considerable destruction. One example was the kitchen-built backpack bombs that killed 52 people in London’s subway system in 2005.

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Comparison to WMDs

Homemade Chemicals

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In 2016, as U.S. and Russian-led bombings decimated many of the facilities in Iraq and Syria that had been used by the Islamic State to produce chemical and other weapons, the Islamic State reportedly turned to the practice of making crude homemade weapons using common materials, including chemicals. While many may say that homemade weapons are preferable to manufactured ones, they are still potentially very harmful. Triacetone triperoxide (TATP), the most commonly used chemical

compound in al-Qaeda’s homemade weapons, can be produced from acetone, which can be found in nail-polish remover, and hydrogen peroxide, a chemical used in hair-bleaching products. TATP wields about 85 percent of the explosive power of TNT; a dime-size amount can ignite a fireball the size of a basketball. This powerful explosive can also be produced in a kitchen or bathroom by a person with very limited technical expertise. In spite of the fact that TATP is extremely unstable, it has been used by al-Qaeda in over a dozen plots. Even more of a concern is the fact that TATP resembles a plain white powder, making it extremely difficult to detect by airport and other security.

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TATP

Homemade Chemicals

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In their original state, riot control agents such as CN and CS are either liquids or solids (e.g., powder), but can be released in the air as fine droplets or particles. When released into the air, exposure can occur through skin contact, eye contact, or inhalation. These agents cause irritation to the area of contact (e.g., the eyes, skin, or nose) within seconds of exposure, and these effects do not last very long (15–30 minutes) after the person has been removed from exposure. The extent of these effects depends on the amount of agent to which a person was exposed, how the person was exposed, and the length of time of the exposure, and whether the exposure occurred indoors or outdoors.

 

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Riot control agents, sometimes referred to as “tear gas,” are chemicals that are designed to temporarily debilitate by causing irritation to the eyes, mouth, throat, lungs, and skin. These agents comprise several different chemical compounds, the most common being chloroacetophenone (CN) and chlorobenzylidenemalononitrile (CS). Other examples include chloropicrin (PS, which is also used as a fumigant), bromobenzylcyanide (CA), dibenzoxazepine (CR), and combinations of these chemicals.

 

Incapacitation/Riot Control Agents

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The route of poisoning, total dose, and exposure time all determine the symptoms of cyanide poisoning. Inhalation can lead to restlessness and increased respiratory rate, followed by giddiness, headache, heart palpitations, and difficulty breathing. These initial symptoms become more serious and are followed by vomiting, convulsions, respiratory failure, and unconsciousness. If the poisoning occurs rapidly, a victim may immediately collapse and die.

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Blood agents are generally inhaled, and are circulated throughout the body via the blood vessels in the lungs. They impede the ability of the blood cells to use oxygen and to transfer it to the other organs, effectively causing the body to suffocate.

 

Blood Agents

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Since World War II, nerve agents have been the dominant form of chemical agent. These weapons are stable and easily dispersed, highly toxic and have rapid effects both when absorbed through the skin or inhaled and can be manufactured by means of fairly simple chemical techniques using raw materials that are inexpensive and easily acquired.

In the early 1930s, German chemists discovered that organo- phosphorus compounds could be poisonous, and they began researching their potential for pesticides. Two years later, these chemists had developed a phosphorus compound called Tabun, the first of the substances later referred to as nerve agents. The Germans commenced to producing Tabun as a weapon, and during the last years of World War II over 12,000 tons were produced.

By the end of the war, when Allied forces seized large quantities of Tabun, the chemists who had developed it synthesized about 2,000 new organo-phosphorus compounds. Two others were Sarin and Soman, which along with Tabun became known as “G-agents.” By the mid-1950s a group of more stable nerve agents had been developed, known as “V-agents.” Among the most toxic substances ever synthesized, V-agents are over one hundred times more powerful than G-agents. In the United States, the substance known as VX was developed in 1958, and its full-scale production began three years later.

History of Nerve Agents

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LESSON THREE: CHEMICAL WEAPONS AND THREATS

Chemical terrorism is somewhat different from the use of chemical warfare agents (CWA). This designation includes conventional explosives and toxic chemicals such as choking agents, blood agents, and blister agents as well as the by-products of their manufacture. CWAs, on the other hand, are chemicals used in military operations to kill, injure, or incapacitate. Toxic industrial materials (TIMs) can also pose a risk, sometimes producing the same devastation as a CWA.

 

Topics to be covered include:

What is chemical terrorism? Nerve agents Blister agents (vesicants) Blood agents Choking/lung/pulmonary agents Incapacitation/riot control agents Toxic industrial materials (TIMs) Homemade chemicals

Introduction

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The history of chemical warfare agents (CWA) began with World War I, a war fought largely underground in trenches. Among the first chemical agents to be used in war were chlorine, phosgene, hydrogen cyanide, and mustard gas. A number of others were developed in the period between the World Wars. In an effort to develop the perfect pesticide, the Germans began to discover the toxic properties of phosphorous compounds in 1932, and by 1939 a full-scale automated production plant was in place to produce these chemical agents. Tens of thousands of tons of CWAs had been manufactured by the end of World War II.

 

Generally speaking, CWAs are characterized by the following traits and behaviors:

They usually take the forms of liquids when containerized, although they are normally disseminated in gas form or using an aerosol. They usually present a hazard when either inhaled into the lungs or in contact with the skin. In many cases, they are detectable by the senses (with many having a strong and distinctive odor). Their use is strongly influenced by environmental and weather conditions (e.g., the temperature, the amount of wind or humidity present).

 

Many of these traits and behaviors also apply to chemical agents used by terrorists, with the chief difference being that CWAs are typically manufactured for the express purpose of using in warfare while

 

What Is Chemical Terrorism?

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Cyanide is a rapidly acting, potentially deadly chemical that can exist in various forms, including as a colorless gas or a crystal form. While it does not always give off an odor, it has been described by some as having a “bitter almond” scent that is not detectable by everyone. CWA employing cyanide are sometimes known by the military military designations AC (for hydrogen cyanide) and CK (for cyanogen chloride).

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Blood agents are generally inhaled, and are circulated throughout the body via the blood vessels in the lungs. They impede the ability of the blood cells to use oxygen and to transfer it to the other organs, effectively causing the body to suffocate.

 

Blood Agents

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The chemicals that have been discussed so far in this lesson have been manufactured and used for the purpose of killing or debilitating human populations, even though some of these chemicals do have industrial uses as well. Toxic industrial and commercial chemicals that are produced, transported, and stored in the making of petroleum, textiles, plastics, fertilizers, paper, foods, pesticides, household cleaners, and other products can potentially be utilized for this purpose.

 

OBTAINING TIMS SPREADING FEAR

Generally speaking, a terrorist is most concerned with inflicting terror on their targets rather than the length of time that would be required to produce enough exposure to cause symptoms. TIMs have long been a terrorist’s weapon of choice since chemical and biological WMDs are so much more difficult to procure. TIMs are manufactured solely for use in industrial operations and not as weapons to be used in warfare, as are CBW agents. A terrorist can use TIMs as a weapon that will not immediately incapacitate civilians, but will scare them and cause mass suffering over a period of time.

Before 9/11, TIMs were used in the majority of terrorist attacks. A typical example occurred in 1994, when a terrorist killed ten people in Tajikistan by spiking a bottle of champagne with cyanide. In contrast, CWAs were involved in only 7.2 percent of chemical attacks; most of these were connected to Aum Shinrikyo (Bennett, 2003).

 

 

Toxic Industrial Materials (TIMs)

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The most common blood agent is cyanide, which has never been confirmed to have been used in chemical warfare, though its use by Iraq against Iran and its own Kurdish population has been reported. Highly toxic, this blood agent rapidly leads to death when used in sufficient concentrations; during World War II a form of hydrogen cyanide called Zyklon B was used by the Nazis in their extermination camps.

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Blood agents are generally inhaled, and are circulated throughout the body via the blood vessels in the lungs. They impede the ability of the blood cells to use oxygen and to transfer it to the other organs, effectively causing the body to suffocate.

 

Blood Agents

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Cyanide also has several industrial uses, such as in the manufacture of paper, textiles, and plastics; in the chemicals used to develop photographs; in metallurgy for electroplating, metal cleaning, and removing gold from its ore; and for pest control in ships and buildings.

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Blood agents are generally inhaled, and are circulated throughout the body via the blood vessels in the lungs. They impede the ability of the blood cells to use oxygen and to transfer it to the other organs, effectively causing the body to suffocate.

 

Blood Agents

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Paris police used riot-control agents to dispel rioters before World War I, and after World War I military and law enforcement agencies used CN for various purposes until CS, a more potent and less toxic compound, replaced it for the most part in 1959. The United States used CS extensively during the Vietnam War, primarily when clearing tunnels. In most countries, the main military use of CS today is in training, where it is used as a confidence builder for the protective mask (called the “gas chamber exercise”).

 

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Riot control agents, sometimes referred to as “tear gas,” are chemicals that are designed to temporarily debilitate by causing irritation to the eyes, mouth, throat, lungs, and skin. These agents comprise several different chemical compounds, the most common being chloroacetophenone (CN) and chlorobenzylidenemalononitrile (CS). Other examples include chloropicrin (PS, which is also used as a fumigant), bromobenzylcyanide (CA), dibenzoxazepine (CR), and combinations of these chemicals.

 

Incapacitation/Riot Control Agents

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