Название: Handbook of Chemical and Biological Warfare Agents, Volume 2: Nonlethal Chemical Agents and Biological Warfare Agents, 3rd Edition
Автор: D. Hank Ellison
Издательство: CRC Press
Год: 2022
Страниц: 621
Язык: английский
Формат: pdf (true)
Размер: 10.1 MB

The Handbook of Chemical and Biological Warfare Agents, Volume 2: Pathogens, Mid-Spectrum, and Incapacitating Agents, Third Edition provides rapid access to key data to response professionals and decision-makers on a broad range of agents and pathogens.

This volume presents information on a wide range of chemical and biological agents. Chemical agents detailed in this volume are those that were developed specifically for their non-lethal potential. The biological agents described are militarily significant pathogens that could be weaponized to pose a threat to people, animals, or crops and other agricultural interests. Mid-spectrum agents, materials that do not fit clearly into either the Chemical or the Biological Weapons Conventions, include toxins and bioregulators. Entomological agents, the final class of agents discussed in volume, are arthropods that could pose a significant threat to a country’s agriculture infrastructure and be used to devastate its economy. They were proposed for inclusion in the Biological Weapons Convention but never adopted.

In addition to a discussion of each of these classes of agents, coverage includes detailed information on a broad spectrum of individual agents that have been used on the battlefield, stockpiled as weapons, used or threatened to be used by terrorists, or have been otherwise assessed by qualified law enforcement and response organizations and determined to be agents of significant concern.

Mind-Altering Agents is also referred to as incapacitating agents, psychomimetic agents, or calmatives. Mind-altering agents became popular during the Cold War. Agent BZ (C12-A001) and two key components necessary to synthesize BZ, 3-quinuclidinol (C12-C032), and benzilic acid (C12-C034), are listed in Schedule 2 of the Chemical Weapons Convention. In addition to military specific agents, materials in this class encompass a wide variety of commercially available medicinal dugs that interfere with higher functions of the brain such as attention, orientation, perception, memory, motivation, conceptual thinking, planning, and judgment. They produce their effects mainly by altering or disrupting the higher regulatory activity of the central nervous system. Mind-altering agents differ from other chemical agents in that the lethal dose is theoretically many times greater than the incapacitating dose (i.e., a large therapeutic index). Under normal battlefield conditions, they should not pose a serious danger to the life of an exposed individual and should not produce any permanent injury. Soldiers should recover without medical intervention in a relatively short time (i.e., hours to days). In reality, this proves to be much more problematic. While the therapeutic index is relatively large, the actual dose required to produce either incapacitation or death is very small; and, although relatively easy to disperse, it is difficult to effectively control the dose delivered to the target population and prevent fatalities.

The information presented in this edition has been updated and expanded to contain more information on toxicology, health effects, presentation of diseases, advances in medical care and treatment, as well as protective actions needed at the scene of an incident.

Key Features:
Focuses on the key information needed during an emergency response
Provides updated toxicology, exposure hazards, physical-chemical data, and treatment of casualties
Profiles the presentation of diseases in people, animals and plants
Presents updated protective action distances, decontamination, and remediation information

All data compiled is gathered from numerous sources and arranged into the current, easy-to-access format. In order to ensure accuracy, all data has been cross-checked over the widest variety of military, scientific and medical sources available. The Handbook of Chemical and Biological Warfare Agents, Volume 2: Pathogens, Mid-Spectrum, and Incapacitating Agents, Third Edition remains the gold-standard reference detailing the widest variety of military, scientific, and medical sources available.