Chemical threat agents

Green U., Kremer J.H., Zillmer M. and Moldaenke C., 2003. Detection of chemical threat agents in drinking water by an early warning real-time biomonitor Environ Toxicol 18 368-74. 

Sciuto, A. M., Moran, T. S., Narula, A., Forster, J. S., Romano, J. A., Jr. (2001). Disruption of gas exchangefollowing exposure to the chemical threat agent phosgene Implications for human performance (Rep. No. USAMRICD TR-01-06). Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense. 

The primary focus and intent of this book is to improve the reader s understanding of the current status of scientific research on countermeasures to biological and chemical threat agents through an enhanced knowledge of the history of their usage. 

Information available in this chapter will provide a brief overview of the history of biological and chemical weapons and their use for terrorism, briefly discuss the technical aspects characteristic of currently recognized biological and chemical threat agents, and relate the importance of ongoing and needed multidisciplinary research programs to address countermeasures to biological and chemical threats to both military and civilian elements of Western society, economic viability, and political stability. 

It is important for the reader to understand that the use of biological and chemical threat agents against humans and their interests, including crops, livestock, and wildlife, is not a new or novel concept. Numerous references to the use of biological... 

Chapter 2 provides an extensive discussion of the threats and vulnerabilities associated with the employment and effects of biological and chemical threat agents by terrorists. The chapter strives to educate the reader on the relationships among risk (potential for exposure), vulnerability (weakness or situation predisposing one to exposure) and threat as they relate to effectively responding to and countering such an attack Vulnerability + Risk = Threat. 

TRANSPORT OF BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL THREAT AGENTS IN SOIL... 

A biological and chemical threat agent that is soluble in water and does not exert a vapor pressure will generally exist in the soil in two phases as dissolved solute in soil water and as a sorbent to soil particles or organic matter. Mathematically, the partition of a specific chemical can be written as... 

The first form of flow to be considered would be the steady-state case. In this case dQJdt is zero. Transient-state conditions occur when dQJdt is not zero. If a biological or chemical threat agent were applied to the soil surface, the mathematical solution to (3.4.18) would be as follows ... 

For nonvolatile, nonsorbed biological and chemical threat agents, the apparent diffusion coefficients can be expressed as follows ... 

Previous discussions within this section have been concerned only with the movement of biological and chemical threat agents within the soil system. There has been no discussion about the loss of biological and chemical threat agent concentration from the soil due to sorption onto the solid surfaces that are the fabric of the soil. Sorption of biological and chemical threat agents does occur in real-world situations. 

The simplest form of model for the sorption of biological and chemical threat agents to the soil is a linear model in which the rate of sorption is dependent on the concentration of the agent. A linear equilibrium model can be represented as follows ... 

Summary of Biological and Chemical Threat Agents on Soil... 

Earth s surface. The arable areas that we depend upon for living and food production are limited and vulnerable to biological and chemical threat agents. 

The introduction of biological and chemical threat agents into bodies of water poses several different problems. The nature of the problems posed will depend on the biological and physical properties of the threat agent used and the nature of the water body. To a large extent, the chemical characteristics of the biological and chemical agents (see Table 4.1) and the water quality parameters of a water body control solubility of the material as well as the sorption of the material to soil particles (suspended or bed sediments). Many of the transport phenomena are discussed in Chapter 3. 

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