Since the first edition of this handbook, written in 1999, the awareness of threat scenarios-and the technical knowledge and capabilities from toxicological and medical treatment perspective-have only advanced and, largely, improved. The Handbook of Chemical and Biological Warfare Agents, Third Edition, Two Volume Set is structured to provide rapid access to key data needed by response professionals and decision-makers on a broad range of agents and pathogens that have been developed by the military, used or threatened to be used by terrorists, or industrial materials determined to be of significant concern.

The body of information in this new edition exceeds a size that can comfortably be handled in a single volume. As such, Volume 1 contains those classes of military chemical agents that were developed for their lethal effects as, well as toxic industrial materials that are considered a potential threat for use as improvised agents. Volume 2 contains chemicals that were developed for their potential as non-lethal agents, as well as all classes of biological and mid-spectrum agents. Chapters are formatted to offer rapid access to key information required by early in a response, without overwhelming them with inessential details.

The information presented for every class detailed in this edition has been updated and expanded, containing more information on health effects and on the chemical, physical and biological properties of individual agents. There has been a significant increase in the number of individual agents described, as well as in the number of components, precursors, and decomposition products detailed. This edition also contains chapters on bioregulators and non-vector entomological agents, two new classes of agents not previously addressed

Key Features:

• • Focuses on the key information needed during an emergency response
  • Provides updated toxicology, exposure hazards, physical-chemical data, and treatment of casualties for all chemical agents
  • Profiles the presentation of diseases in people, animals, or plants
  • Presents updated protective action distances, decontamination, and remediation information

The information provided is a compilation gathered from numerous sources and arranged into the current, easy-to-access format. In order to ensure accuracy, all data has been cross-checked over the widest variety of military, scientific, and medical sources available. The Handbook of Chemical and Biological Warfare Agents, Third Edition remains the gold-standard reference detailing the widest variety of military, scientific, and medical sources available

About the Author

D. Hank Ellison served in the United States Army as a chemical officer and has worked for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as both a remedial project manager and federal on-scene coordinator under the Superfund Program. He currently is president of Cerberus & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm that specializes in response to technological disasters. As a private consultant, Ellison has responded to hazardous material incidents involving highly poisonous materials, chemical fires, water reactive substances, and shock-sensitive materials throughout the state of Michigan. He has provided chemical and biological counterterrorism training to members of emergency medical service (EMS) units, hazardous materials (hazmat) teams, police special weapons and tactics (SWAT) teams, and explosive ordinance disposal (EOD) teams. During the anthrax events of 2001, he helped state and local governments as well as Fortune 500 companies to develop and implement response plans for biological threats. He currently advises clients on issues of hazardous materials, and related safety and security concerns.

He also served as a safety officer and then the training officer for the United States Department of Health and Human Services DMORT-WMD emergency response team, which has the primary mission for recovery and decontamination of fatalities contaminated with radiological, biological or chemical materials. He deployed with the team to New Orleans in response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Mr. Ellison holds an MS degree in chemistry from the University of California, Irvine. His graduate research involved methods to synthesize poisons extracted from Colombian poison-dart frogs. He holds a BS in chemistry from the Georgia Institute of Technology. In addition to his works on weapons of mass destruction, he is the author of Chemical Warfare During the Vietnam War: Riot Control Agents in Combat, published in 2011, as well as a chapter on the hazardous properties of materials in Managing Hazardous Materials: A Definitive Text published in 2002.

Book Information
ISBN 9781138386778
Author D. Hank Ellison
Page Count 896
Imprint CRC Press
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 2680g