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Defense Against Toxic Weapons: Introduction
by David R. Franz
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Defense Against Toxic Weapons
INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this manual is to provide basic information on
biological toxins to military leaders and health-care providers at all
levels to help them make informed decisions on protecting their
troops from toxins. Much of the information contained herein will
also be of interest to individuals charged with countering domestic
and international terrorism. We typically fear what we do not
understand. Although understanding toxin poisoning is less useful
in a toxin attack than knowledge of cold injury on an Arctic
battlefield, information on any threat reduces its potential to harm.
I hope that by providing information about the physical
characteristics and biological activities of toxins, the threat of
toxins will actually be reduced. I did not intend to provide detailed
information on individual threat toxins or on medical prevention or
treatment. This primer puts toxins in context, attempts to remove
the elements of mystery and fear that surround them, and provides
general information that will ultimately help leaders make rational
decisions, protect their soldiers and win battles.
The mission of the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development
Command's Medical Biological Defense Research Program is to
study and develop means of medically defending the U.S. Armed
Forces from toxins and infectious threats posed by adversaries. It is
our responsibility to develop medical countermeasures to toxins of
plant, animal and microbial origin. We believe that there is a
biological toxin threat and we know of countries that are not in
compliance with the Biological Weapons Convention of 1972.
Therefore, prudence mandates a strong defensive program. The
toxins described herein are all nonreplicating agents; some have
been identified by the intelligence community as biological warfare
threats.
Physical measures, such as the protective mask and
decontamination systems, developed for the chemical threat are, for
the most part, effective against toxin threats. Research to develop
individual medical countermeasures to toxins is complicated by
several factors. A number of toxins could be selected by an
adversary for use in low-tech, relatively inexpensive weapons.
Many more are potentially available through genetic engineering or
chemical synthesis. Biological weapons are far more easily
obtained and used than nuclear weapons. They actually may be
more easily produced and used than conventional explosive
weapons. Colorless, tasteless, odorless, small-scale aerosols may be
generated relatively easily with a cheap plastic nebulizer attached to
a pump or pressurized air bottle. However, production and use of
toxins as true mass casualty weapons is not a trivial undertaking.
The likely route of intoxication for soldiers or victims of terrorist
attack is through the lung by respirable aerosols; another
possibility is through the gastrointestinal tract by contamination of
food or water supplies, although the latter would be difficult in
chlorinated water, or in rivers, lakes or reservoirs because of
dilution effects. The effects of most toxins are more severe when
inhaled than when they are consumed in food or injected by bites
or stings. Some toxins can elicit a significantly different clinical
picture when the route of exposure is changed, a phenomenon that
may confound diagnosis and delay treatment. Finally, because the
primary population at risk is relatively small (military troops, not
the general public, as with childhood infectious diseases), there is
little commercial incentive to produce vaccines, antisera or
therapeutic drugs to counter toxin threats.
There are still many unknowns regarding toxins and their
weaponization. Statements in this document on the nature of a
"typical toxin attack" are based on my understanding of the
physical characteristics of toxins, recent studies of aerosolized
toxins in small laboratory chambers to test protective drugs and
vaccines, and historical data from larger-scale studies with toxin or
simulant aerosols. The following three descriptions, Toxin, Mass
Casualty Biological (toxin) Weapon and Militarily Significant
Weapon, define these terms for the purposes of this primer.
1. A Toxin is any toxic substance that can be produced by an
animal, plant or microbe. Some toxins can also be produced by
molecular biologic techniques (protein toxins) or by chemical
synthesis (low molecular weight toxins). Chemical agents, such as
soman, sarin, VX, cyanide and mustard agents, typically man-made
for weaponization, are not included in this discussion except for
comparison.
2. A Mass Casualty Biological (toxin) Weapon (MCBW) is any
toxin weapon capable of causing death or disease on a large scale,
such that the military orcivilian infrastructure of the state or
organization being attacked is overwhelmed. (Note: The commonly
accepted term for this category of weapons is "Weapons of Mass
Destruction," although that term brings to mind destroyed cities,
bomb craters and great loss of life; MCBWs might cause loss of
life only. I do not anticipate that "MCBW" will replace the term
"Weapon of Mass Destruction" in common usage, but it is
technically more descriptive of toxin weapons).
3. A Militarily Significant (or Terrorist) Weapon is any weapon
capable of affecting-directly or indirectly, physically or through
psychological impact-the outcome of a military operation.
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