Toxic Industrial Chemicals

As an alternative to manufacturing military-grade chemical agents such as nerve agents, terrorists might acquire toxic household or industrial chemicals. Although much less deadly than nerve agents, these chemicals are far more accessible. A number of examples follow:

Poison gas canister next to phosgene pressurized cylinder; source: U.S. Coast Guard

• Phosgene was used as a choking agent in World War I. Today, more than a billion pounds of phosgene are produced and consumed in the United States each year for the production of plastics.
• Methyl isocyanate is a chemical ingredient used in the production of commercial pesticides. Exposure to methyl isocyanate can cause pulmonary edema (the accumulation of fluid in the lungs), respiratory tract irritation, nausea, and blindness. This chemical was released in the December 1984 accident at a Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India, that killed about 4,000 people and injured roughly 10,000.

• Cyanides are utilized in a wide variety of industrial applications such as mineral extraction, dyeing, printing, photography, electroplating, agriculture, and the production of paper, textiles, and plastics. The United States alone produces some 300,000 metric tons of cyanides a year for peaceful purposes. Cyanides prevent the cells of the body from getting oxygen, resulting in tissue death and organ failure. Death from exposure to cyanides typically results from damage to the heart and brain, which require large amounts of oxygen.  

This material is produced independently for NTI by the Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of and has not been independently verified by NTI or its directors, officers, employees, agents.
Copyright © 2004 by MIIS.