Chlorine Chemical Terrorism

Effects of poisonous gas attacks- Chlorine was used in the gas attacks and within seconds of inhaling it, the vapors destroyed the victim’s respiratory organs. Then

In order to mitigate exposure to harmful substances, first responders are trained to be familiar with hazardous substance identification systems. These two systems are the National Fire Protection Association’s (NFPA) 704 system, and the Department of Transportation (DOT) HAZMAT identification system (Weekly reading; Unit 2: Hazardous Materials Identification Systems). Deadly threats exist in the aftermath of any terrorist attacks, so first responders should be aware of these systems, and the dangers they will face.

There will always be groups who hate another for varying reasons and seek to destroy vice engage in productive activities. Sarin gas is an insidious way to cause death and panic amongst relatively unprotected civilian populations and will continue to prove attractive as long as there is a perceived benefit to using it. Chemicals provide the terrorists with a tool that can cause the death toll of a nuclear weapon if properly employed, but without the need for difficult to obtain fissile material. A chemical attack of any form against a developed nation is going to degrade many aspects of that society as such an attack is not personal in nature, but against an entire

Chemical warfare was starting to gain momentum during the First World War After using less than ideal equipment from the British against German forces, the United States needed to gain an edge for fighting into the future to increase their chances at mission success. The United States gained experience with chemical weapons from the First World War and after transitioning from World War I to World War II various improvements were made to enhance the capabilities of the Chemical Weapons Service. Colonel Lewis McBride was directly responsible for changing the Chemical Weapons Service and helped in securing America’s ideals; taking the United States into the future with new and improved chemical weapons technologies.

The sleeper cell coordinates the attack incorporating lessons learned from previous arrests of failed terrorist plots worldwide. The sleepers know the purchase of pressure cookers will draw attention to themselves. To solve this problem, the machinists produce the pressure cookers and pipes for the chlorine attack. Chlorine was selected because it is easier to acquire from the HAZMAT driver. The increased pandemonium, injury, and possible death caused by chlorine meets the sleeper cell’s intent. Chlorine is a choking agent and according to Shea (2013), “…choking agents act on the lungs, causing difficulty in breathing and, potentially, permanent lung damage” (p. 5). The sleeper cell desires a high concentration of chlorine in the attack, causing

Uses of irritating gas such as sulfur and burning wax have been recorded early as 428 BC during the war between the Athenians and the Spartans, but modern day chemical agents that cause excessive lacrimation and blepharospasm were first developed and used by Germany during World War I. [2] These riot control agents have also been referred to as lacrimators, tear gases, harassing agents, and irritating agents. Since its development, riot control agents have been used in wars, civil disturbances, as well as military training and exercises. While Chemical Weapons Convention prohibited the use of these agents as a method of warfare, USA currently does not classify riot control agents as chemical warfare agents. [3] Today, the most commonly used lacrimating agents are chloroacetophenone (CN), o-chloro-benzylidne malonitrile (CS), and oleoresin capsicum (OC).

Chlorine was first discovered by a man whose profession was in the medical field. However, since it was 1774, the technology wasn’t as advanced and therefore led him to misleading conclusions. Carl Wilhelm Sheele was a Swedish pharmacist who, “released a few drops of hydrochloric acid onto a piece of manganese dioxide in his lab, and a greenish-yellow gas was produced in a matter of seconds…” (Alchin, Linda. “The Element Chlorine.” What Is Chlorine?, www.elementalmatter.info/element-chlorine.htm.). Before Sir Humphry Davy, people thought that Chlorine was a form of oxygen. Sir Humphry Davy later proved otherwise. Although this element was never thought to be used this way, in World War I Chlorine was used as a “choking agent”. Men would suffer

Throughout history different terrorist groups have used a variety of methods to attack innocent civilians and infrastructures. Groups such as Aum Shinirikyo, Al Qaeda, ISIS, and other domestic terrorists have been known to attack innocent communities by using IEDs, chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear weapons. Attacks, such as the Sarin Attack in Tokyo in 1995, is a prime example in which a terrorist group, Aum Shinirikyo, used a chemical nerve agent to attack citizens in Japanese subway. These chemical attacks as well as other WMDs pose unique threats for first responders. It is important to consider these threats as well as the time, location, number of anticipated causalities, and the type of chemical agent used when responding to a chemical attack. It is the responsibility of officials on a local, state, and federal level to facilitate not only the initial response in a chemical attack but also the recovery and cleanup efforts weeks after.

During World War I, chemical warfare was utilized as a Weapon of Mass Destruction to commit large scale attacks against oncoming forces. Wartime scientists used chemicals such as chlorine, phosgene and mustard gas to cause blindness, asphyxiation, and death (Fitzgerald, G 2008). During these attacks, over 1.3 million people suffered chemically induced injuries and more than 90,000 killed by chemical weapons. The devastation caused by chemical warfare led to the gathering of 160 nations to sign treaties banning the use of lethal chemical armaments. On both a national and local level, emergency managers work to evaluate the potential of terrorist attacks of all magnitudes and means.

I found this article “Did Army Spray Harmful Chemicals on US Cities”, it talks about how much the environments gets affected by all the chemicals that are produced by the army weapons. It confirms the argument of how much toxic chemicals have been spread from coast to coast. There have been studies done on how much these toxic chemicals from the army not only affect the environment, but also humans as a whole. To this point there’s not much being done about it, specially because we have one of the best armed forces which means, they need better weapons, which can lead to more toxic chemicals.

Experts believe that terrorist use of chemical agents is an event with low probability, but potentially high consequences. While terrorist groups may or may not have an increased interest in chemical agent acquisition and use, the domestic vulnerability of the United States to chemical attack remains an issue. Both the United States and Russia have signed and ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), and are reducing, and eventually eliminating, their chemical weapon stockpiles.1 The possibility that terrorist groups might obtain insecure chemical weapons led to increased scrutiny of declared Libyan chemical weapon stockpiles following the fall of the Qadhafi regime. Experts have expressed similar concerns regarding the

The first World war chemical weapons were used then outlawed for combat. “Unlike when the U.S. was the only nuclear power and first used the technology against Japan without fear of reciprocation” ( The Ch.1 The Dangers). As a country we didn’t know the effects of a bomb on a living city, but now we know the consequences. Now what

LRN has designed a structure for response to chemical terrorism events. The LRN is categorized into three levels of activities: Level I, II and III. NHPHL is classified as a Level II laboratory. These levels signify the abilities and tasks for the laboratories a chemical terrorism response. [30]

Even as a nation-state, Iraq needed assistance to fully realize its arsenal of chemical weaponry with chemical precursors coming from the U.S., Singapore, the Netherlands, West Germany, Egypt, India, and likely others (Halabja poison gas massacre, 2011, Sect 5, Para 1-2). This event also likely did little to nothing to affect our counterterrorism preparedness against chemicals since this issue was considered as between nations, specifically Iran and Iraq die to the ongoing Iran-Iraq war. During the late 1980’s, the major concern here was not terrorism at all, but instead the USSR and the cold war, even though the soviet union would fall shortly

The purpose of this essay is to deal with the fact that chemical warfare should be brought back to modern warfare strategies. As Warren Rudman said, “And they will tell you unequivocally that if we have a chemical or biological attack or a nuclear attack anywhere in this country, they are unprepared to deal with it today, and that is of high urgency.” Rudman’s words are true in what they say and that we should do everything to counter-act his statement. Biological weapons are a key to outstanding success in war and therefore, I strongly suggest that chemical warfare is an effective and producible weapon tactic that can be used on today’s battlefield.