The threats posed by chemical and biological weapons can be considered as significant even in these days. Due to the fact that infectious and toxic warfare agents are relatively simple and cheap to produce they are known as the “poor man’s nuclear bomb". They could become dangerous devices with a dreadful effect when they fall into the hands of terrorist groups and aggressive powers. After revi...

Youn-Sang Bae, David Dubbeldam, Andrew Nelson, Krista S. Walton, Joseph T. Hupp, and Randall Q. Snurr* Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, Illinois 60208, Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, Illinois 60208, Naval Air Warfare Center, Weapons Division, China Lake, California 93555, an...

Chemical and biological warfare agents constitute a low-probability, but high-impact risk both to the military and to the civilian population. The use of hazardous materials of chemical or biological origin as weapons and for homicide has been documented since ancient times. The first use of chemicals in terms of weapons of mass destruction goes back to World War I, when on April 22, 1915 large...

The Chemical Weapons Convention prohibits the development, production, acquisition, stockpiling, retention, transfer or use of chemical weapons by Member States. Verification of compliance and investigations into allegations of use require accurate detection of chemical warfare agents (CWAs) and their degradation products. Detection of CWAs such as organophosphorus nerve agents in the environme...

echnologies to counter the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction by rogue governments and international terrorist organizations are a top national priority. One of the top development requirements is for highly sensitive and specific detection technologies for biological warfare agents. This article describes the development of sensors for field detection of weapons of mass destruction u...

background: the goal of the present study was to report the results of two parallel works in which the incidence of fetal deaths and also congenital malformations among the progenies of the iranian chemical victims were studied. methods: the subjects were progenies of a randomly selected population from survivors of chemical attacks during iran-iraq conflict. totally 807 male cases ranged 18-85...

Self-decontaminating materials are defined as substances or objects designed and fabricated to deactivate pathogenic microorganisms or chemical warfare agents. Self-decontamination makes it possible for continuous protection against toxic materials. In order to develop destructive barriers against biological and chemical air pollutants, protective clothing and membranes using catalytic or enzym...

The old Japanese army developed several chemical warfare agents on Ohkuno Island in Seto inland sea, Hiroshima Japan, during the period between 1919 and 1944. These chemical agents including yperite (mustard; irritating agent), lewisite (irritating agent), diphenylchloroarsine (DA; vomiting agent), diphenylcyanoarsine (DC; vomiting agent) and other poisonous gases were manufactured to be used i...

Toxin weapon research, development, production and the ban on its uses is an integral part of international law, with particular attention paid to the protection against these weapons. In spite of this, hazards associated with toxins cannot be completely excluded. Some of these hazards are also pointed out in the present review. The article deals with the characteristics and properties of natur...

Seizurogenic chemicals include a variety of toxic agents, including chemical warfare agents, toxic industrial chemicals, and natural toxins. Chemical weapons such as sarin and VX, and pesticides such as parathion and carbaryl cause hyperstimulation of cholinergic receptors and an increase in excitatory neurotransmission. Glutamatergic hyperstimulation can occur after exposure to excitatory amin...