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HOME : DOING JOURNALISM : TERRORISM
October
26, 2001
After
the Strikes
Dangerous
Chemistry
THREAT
OF CHEMICAL AGENTS LOOMS
By Ellen
Sung
Poynter.org Reporter
While recent
bioterrorist attacks have kept media coverage focused on the risks
of germ warfare, little notice has been given to a potentially
graver
and often misunderstood threat: chemical weapons.
"When I have
nightmares, they're about nerve gas," said Michael Skeels, director
of the Oregon Public Health Laboratory, at the 2001 Society of
Environmental
Journalists conference in mid-October.
Chemical agents
have been used in warfare at least since the fifth century B.C.
As Thucydides recorded in The Peloponnesian War, the Spartans
burned pitch and sulfur, creating toxic gases to suffocate the
Athenians.
It was not
until this century -- with the rise of the modern chemical industry
and the advent of World War I -- that chemical warfare agents began
to be developed scientifically.
The first
agents created were relatively harmless, meant only to incapacitate
victims. Soon after, the French, British and Germans were able to
develop stronger chemical irritants, including blister agents (such
as mustard gas) that would create severe chemical burns on a
victim's
skin and choking agents (such as chlorine) that would attack lung
tissue.
On April 22,
1915, the Germans launched what is considered the first major
chemical
warfare attack in modern history, spraying 180 metric tons of
asphyxiating
chlorine gas over close-fighting Allied troops. The gas caused a
few Allied casualties, but created such a panic that it cleared
a five-mile swath in the Allied line.
By the 1930s,
German scientists had discovered a new class of chemical weapons
known as nerve agents. Similar in structure to insecticides, these
organophosphates -- tabun, sarin, and soman -- were hundreds to
thousands of times more effective than blister and choking agents.
The most lethal
of the nerve agents, VX, was invented by the British in the 1950s.
The United States began producing VX in 1958, after trading
thermonuclear
secrets for research on the agent.
All of these
nerve "gases" -- actually liquids dispersed in a fine mist -- share
a similar chemical structure and are toxic in doses of mere
milligrams.
They are generally deployed through explosives or sprayers in
confined
areas, and can enter the body through the air or the skin. Because
they are heavier than air, they often settle in low-lying areas.
Despite the
potency of these compounds, the only chemical attack in history
by terrorists did far less damage than would have been predicted.
In May 1995, a Japanese cult unleashed sarin gas in three crowded
Tokyo subway stations, killing eleven people and injuring
approximately 5,000 people -- less than 10% of the number in the
stations.
While there
is a relatively ready supply of vaccines and pharmaceuticals to
treat biological threats, the nature of chemical attacks makes them
harder to prepare for.
Firstly, chemical
weapons act quickly compared to biological weapons.
In the case
of nerve agents, they work so rapidly that by the time medicine
can be dispensed, victims often are already deceased. Two
antidotes,
atropine and pralidoxime chloride, are available but only under
strict control.
Choking agents
also attack quickly, but rarely kill a victim. There are no real
antidotes for choking agents, but wearing a gas mask can prevent
damage.
Blister agents
can be the slowest to cause symptoms to appear, but the threat of
a blister agent can persist for up to one week. Immediate
decontamination
with water and preferably a bleach solution is the only way to
avoid
injury. There are no antidotes for two of the three most common
blister agents -- mustard gas and phosgene -- but a limited antidote
is available for lewisite.
Secondly,
prophylactic measures are not well developed. During the Gulf War,
troops were injected with pyridostigmine bromide (PB), which is
believed to increase the effectiveness of atropine and pralidoxime
chloride. But research suggests a possible link between PB and the
set of symptoms known as Gulf War syndrome.
Finally, the
federal government may not have the right number of medicines at
the right time. Although several federal agencies coordinate to
warehouse critical medical supplies and pharmaceuticals, a 2000
General Accounting Office report found that the stores were poorly
managed and some were carrying expired stocks. A further check-up
a year later found inadequate risk management and inventory
control.
Index
by Author POYNTER.ORG
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