Chemical warfare agents current developments

Toxic hazards never seem as acute as other hazards in the ordnance industries, and the prevailing habits of cleanliness and orderliness go a long way toward their amelioration. The current emphasis on the maintenance of environmental standards have placed additional requirements on the control of effluent gas and liq process streams. The care now being exercised is evidenced by new analytical techniques for the detection of trace contaminants such as the presence of TNT and other aromatic nitrates in the soli and in the ground w (Ref 43), New techniques of detoxification have been developed using microwave plasma oxidation of aromatic compds, heavy metal compns and chemical warfare agents (Refs 65 81)... 

For the purposes of this chapter, the term reproduction will be used primarily in reference to vertebrate species of animals (especially mammals) and will be inclusive of development (Figure 36.1), which is sometimes treated as a separate topic in toxicology texts. This particular chapter emphasizes what is currently known about the adverse effects of known chemical warfare agents and selected environmental contaminants on male and female reproductive function, as well as xenobiotic-induced effects on the growth, maturation, and sexual differentiation of the embryo and fetus. Endocrine disruption is an extremely common mechanism of action for xenobiotics associated with impaired reproductive function and will be discussed along... 

Currently, the number of countries with the potential to develop, or use, chemical weapons offensively is thought to be into double figures. Some of the countries with known chemical warfare agent development and stockpiling programmes, such as North Korea, Israel and Taiwan, are not signatories to the Chemical Weapons... 

Reactive Skin Decontamination Lotion (RSDL) has recently been approved for procurement by the U.S. military (F-Z-EM 2007). RSDL is currently marketed by E-Z-EM, Inc. and is a patented, broad spectrum, skin decontamination lotion that is used to remove or neutralize chemical threat agents and biological warfare agents such as trichothecene mycotoxin (T2 toxin), which can cause severe skin and eye irritation. RSDL was originally developed by the Canadian Defense Research Establishment and consists of 1.25 molar potassium 2,3-butanedione monoximate in poly-etheylene glycol monoethyl ethers with 10% w/v water (Sabourin et al. 2001 Lukey et al. 2004). 

Despite ricin s extreme toxicity and utility as an agent of chemical/biological warfare, it is extremely difficult to limit the production of the toxin. Therefore, ricin is currently monitored as a Schedule 1 toxic chemical under the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development,... 

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