Wiley Handbook of Science and Technology for Homeland Security, 4 Volume Set

SENSING RELEASES OF HIGHLY TOXIC AND EXTREMELY TOXIC COMPOUNDS

D. ANTHONY GRAY

Syracuse Research Corporation, North Syracuse, New York

1 INTRODUCTION

Chemical terrorism (i.e. using or threatening to use chemicals as weapons of terror) is a serious threat in modern society, which is likely to continue for many years. The level of the concern about this threat can be seen in many of the articles in this volume, and the explosion of information on the subject is available in scholarly documents, journal articles, Internet (e.g. [1, 2]), symposia, and short courses dedicated to the subject. In addition, the currency of at least one aspect of this threat was underscored when Iraqi insurgents successfully dispersed chlorine for the first time by exploding an improvised explosive device (IED)/chlorine tank combination in early 2007 as a means of dispersing an industrial chemical agent (see [3, 4]). Because of the magnitude of the threat both to civilians and military personnel and the potential consequences, it is incumbent on both governments and industry to prepare for such an event to the extent possible.

One of the ways to prepare for chemical terrorism events is to develop sensors capable of identifying and quantifying the chemical in use so that when an event occurs, it can be rapidly and accurately identified and its effects can be mitigated. A second way to prepare is to identify a list of candidate chemicals that have toxicological and physicochemical properties that are consistent ...