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Should our Armed
Forces have better protection?
The Efficacy of the Decontaminant
Foam Developed by SANDIA National Laboratories of Albuquerque,
New Mexico. Questioned.
by Richard Price
Background
At the
2nd Singapore International Symposium on Protection Against Toxic
Substances (SISPAT) in Singapore, the SANDIA National Laboratory
representative presented a paper on 4 December 2000 "Foam for
Mitigation and Decontamination of Chemical and Biological Weapons
Agents" in which the following claims were made:
a. "Sandia has developed a non-toxic, non-corrosive foam … for
the rapid mitigation and decontamination of chemical (CW) and
biological (BW) warfare agents."
b. "This decontamination technology is attractive for civilian
and military applications for several reasons including: a single
decon solution can be used for both CW and BW agents"
c. "The foam also kills anthrax spores. In biological tests, 7-log
kill of the spores has been achieved after a one-hour exposure
to the foam." and "The majority of our work has focused on anthrax
where we have achieved 7-log kill (99.99999%) of anthrax spores
after a one-hour exposure to our foam."
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The ninth meeting in the CBMTS series:
CBMTS-Industry III
"Second World Congress on Chemical, Biological
and Radiological Terrorism "
7-12 September 2003
and including the workshop
"National Medical Stockpiles"
6 September 2003
Dubrovnik, Croatia.
George
Bernard Shaw wrote "Those who seek paradise on earth should
come to see Dubrovnik." And it is here in this ancient fortress
city and center of learning, that the next CBMTS, the ninth
meeting in the series, will again analyze and study the available
data and examine and exchange data, views and opinions on
the many facets of chemical and biological terrorism.
This
symposium will explore the scientific, medical and policy
aspects of chemical, biological and radiological terrorism.
We will consider the effects of terrorism on the community
and the individual and on each layer of infrastructure to
include each echelon of government. We will build on the base
of knowledge established at the very prophetic First World
Congress on "CBR Terrorism" in Dubrovnik from 21-27 April
2001. In that meeting we were provided information from those
professionals charged with the task of responding immediately
to crisis conditions. The fact that 4 1/2 months later would
be 9/11 and their planning and training would be put to the
ultimate test. These leaders will once more be with us for
CBMTS-Industry
III.
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Civilian Relief after Release
of Weapons of Mass Destruction
by Jack Woodall*
*Leader of the World Health Organization's delegation
to the Biological Weapons Convention 3rd Review Conference; currently
Director, Nucleus for Investigating Emerging Infectious Diseases,
Dept. Medical Biochemistry, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil.
One
of the Moscow theater hostages was a US citizen, who was hospitalized.
US embassy officials trying to arrange his treatment were frustrated
because the Russian authorities would not disclose the name of
the gas used. The same problem on a much larger scale will face
humanitarian agencies responding to the civilian crisis if weapons
of mass destruction are used in the Gulf area, or if stocks of
them are destroyed by sabotage or aerial or ground bombardment.
In
either case there is likely to be a messy outcome in which a horrendous
mix of chemicals (gases) and biologicals is released, possibly
with the addition of radiation from 'dirty' bombs, perhaps affecting
thousands of civilians in addition to military.
The
military can be expected to take care of their own, but may well
find themselves unable to cope with a mass of civilian casualties.
Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) such as the International
Red Cross and Red Crescent will be anxious to help, but will be
extremely concerned about sending their personnel on what might
be a fatal mission into a contaminated area.
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CBW News Items - you may have
missed
by Richard Price
1. Billions and billions (US).
2. Vaccina for all (Germany).
3. Slovakia joins with the Czech Republic in Kuwait.(Czech
Rep.).
4. Fielding of a New Nerve Agent Treatment Autoinjector
(US).
5. Anthrax - a new treatment (US).
6. US procedures for testing drugs are delaying
approval of vital treatments for BW victims (US).
7. Death - where is thy gentle sting? or Where have
all the monies gone? (US).
8. Chemical-Biological Defense Program (US).
9. Smallpox Vaccine Shipments (US).
10. Nanoantennas Could Bring Sensitive Detectors,
Optical Circuits (US).
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