High-Threat Chemical Agents: Characteristics, Effects, and Policy Implications

Publication Date: September 2003

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

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Terrorist use of chemical agents has been a noted concern, highlighted after the Tokyo Sarin gas attacks of 1995. The events of September 11, 2001, increased Congressional attention towards reducing the vulnerability of the United States to such attacks. High-threat chemical agents, which include chemical weapons and some toxic industrial chemicals, are normally organized by military planners into four groups: nerve agents, blister agents, choking agents, and blood agents. While the relative military threat posed by the various chemical types has varied over time, use of these chemicals against civilian targets is viewed as a low probability, high consequence event.

High-threat chemical agents, depending on the type of agent used, cause a variety of symptoms in their victims. Some cause death by interfering with the nervous system. Some inhibit breathing and lead to asphyxiation. Others have caustic effects on contact. As a result, chemical attack treatment may be complicated by the need to identify at least the type of chemical used. Differences in treatment protocols for the various high-threat agents may also strain the resources of the public health system, especially in the case of mass casualties. Additionally, chemical agents trapped on the body or clothes of victims may place first responders and medical professionals at risk.

Protection from and detection of chemical agents is an area of much concern. The range of protection and detection equipment available to first responders has led to questions regarding equipment standardization and state and local preparedness.

Whether terrorist groups are capable of using chemical agents as weapons of mass destruction is unclear. Some have asserted that the volumes of chemicals required to cause mass casualties would make that scenario unlikely. They claim that chemical terrorism is more likely to be small in scale. Others have suggested that there has been an increase in terrorist interest regarding chemical agents, and that this interest could lead to their use in terrorist attacks.

Current policies seek to reduce the proliferation of chemicals that could be transformed into chemical weapons, prevent unrestricted access to large amounts of toxic chemicals, provide federal assistance to locations that are affected by chemical terrorism, and support research and development activities. It is expected that the Department of Homeland Security will take a major role in federal policy efforts.

Additional measures suggested for addressing potential chemical terrorism vulnerabilities include further restricting domestic access to precursor chemicals and technologies required to manufacture high-threat chemical agents; directing continued research and development into selective, sensitive chemical agent detectors; implementing air monitoring equipment to detect chemical releases in, for example, public transportation or urban spaces; and overseeing further research into protective equipment, prophylaxis, and treatment against high-threat chemicals. This report will be updated as circumstances warrant.