Module 2: CBRN basics

Topic 2.1: Groups of agents, classification and examples of incidents

 Presentation 2.1.1: Classification, properties, signs
and triggers, etc.
Learning objective: to recognize the different groups of agents, their
features and effects
 Classification, properties & dispersion of CBRN agents
Chemical agents Biological agents Radiological and
nuclear materials

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 Chemical agents’ classification
• Classification of chemical agents is possible in various ways, for example:
• Toxic Industrial Chemicals (TICs) versus Chemical Warfare Agents (CWAs)
• Differentiation according to physical-chemical properties
• Differentiation based on toxicity

Symbol for toxic chemicals Symbol for chemical warfare

(most TICs fall into this category) agents (CWAs)

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 Toxicological Industrial Chemicals(TICs)
TICs can be subdivided based on their (potential) effects.

For example:
• Carcinogenic (substance that may cause cancer)
• Toxic (substances that have a poisonous effect at low dose)
• Corrosive (substance that may cause a flash burn)
• Flammable (substance able to burn when ignited)
• Explosive (substance able to explode)

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 Chemical Warfare Agents (CWAs)
CWAs can be subdivided based on their effect:

Blister agents (e.g. mustard gas):

• Blistering of the skin
• Damage to eyes, lungs, etc.

Blood agents (e.g. hydrogen cyanide):

• Affects cell respiration (exchange of oxygen)

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 Chemical Warfare Agents (CWAs)
CWAs can be subdivided based on their effects:

Choking agents (e.g. chlorine)

• Affects the respiratory system (nose, throat & lungs)

Nerve agents (e.g. VX, sarin)

• Affects the central nervous system (e.g. muscle spasms)

Incapacitating agents (e.g. pepper spray)

• Affects behaviour(e.g. burning sensation in the eyes)

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 Physical chemical properties
Differences in physical-chemical properties lead to different behaviour‘in the field’.

Examples of such properties are:

• Aggregation state (gas, liquid, solid at ‘field temperature’)

• Solubility (quantity of substance that will disolve)
• Volatility (maximum concentration in a closed space)

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 Toxicity:
What makes a (chemical) substance toxic?

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 Toxicity
Paracelsus (1493–1541):
"Solely the dose determines that a thing is not a poison." (Sola dosis facit
venenum "Only the dose makes the poison")
Substance Lethal dose in mg/kg
Water 90,000
Kitchen salt 3,000
Arsenic 763
Sodium cyanide 6.4
Sarin 0.15
Botulinum toxin 0.0000010

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 Biological agents
Biological agents can be categorized into four large groups. Although
biological agents are larger in size compared to chemical and radiological
agents, they cannot be observed with the naked eye.
Parasites Bacteria Viruses Toxins

10 μm 1 μm 100 nm 10 nm 1 nm
Light microscope

Electron microscope
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 Biological agents: parasites
Parasites (2-10 μm)
Single- or multicellular organisms that obtain nourishment and shelter from
other organisms.

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 Biological agents: bacteria
Bacteria (0.1 – 1.5 μm)
Microscopic single-celled, self-reproducing organisms that thrive in diverse
environments.

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 Biological agents: viruses
Viruses (10 – 90 nm)
Microscopic particles that are capable of reproducing only within a host cell
and spread disease by moving from host to host.

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 Biological agents: toxins
Toxins
Poisonous substances produced within living cells or organisms. Toxins are non-
replicative and non-infectious, but can be extremely hazardous, even in small
quantities.

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 Properties of Biological agents
Biological agents can cause disease (pathogenic), or do not cause disease (non-pathogenic), and can
have beneficial properties.

For example, biological agents with beneficial properties are used in the pharmaceutical and food
industries.

• Medicine (Pharmacy)
• Fungi: antibiotics

• Food industry
• Fungi & Bacteria: dairy products
• Yeast: bread, beer & wine

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 Properties of Biological agents
Biological agents can cause disease (pathogenic), or do not cause disease (non-pathogenic), and can
have beneficial properties.

Pathogenic biological agents are organisms or infectious particles, or toxins, with the ability to cause
disease.

• Plant pathogens: Tabaco Mosaic (virus)

• Animal pathogens: African Swine Fever (virus)

• Zoonoses: Bacillus anthracis (bacterium, Anthrax)

• Human pathogens: Measles (virus)

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 Properties of Biological agents
Some biological agents can be used as biological weapons.

Bacteria: Bacillus anthracis (anthrax)

Yersinia pestis (plague)
Francisella tularensis (tulemaria)

Viruses: Variola major (smallpox)

Viral hemorrhagic fevers (Ebola)

Toxins: Botulinum toxin (Botox)

Ricin

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 Epidemics
An epidemic is the rapid spread of an infectious disease in the population of a
geographic area at a given time period. An epidemic can be caused by the
deliberate or non-deliberate dispersal of a biological agent.

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 Biological weapons
• Pathogenic biological agents, used as biological weapons, are selected for their
specific characteristics:
• Persistent in the environment:
• High resistance to drought & heat
• Relatively easy to acquire & cultivate:
• Livestock & environment: natural reservoir
• Highly contagious:
• Many transmission routes & low dose = fatal
• Clinical manifestations are non-specific but severe
• Fever, Headache, Pneumonia
• Severe illness and high mortality Researchers working with Class III cabinets at the
USBWL, Camp Detrick, Maryland (1940s).

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 Biological weapons
Biological and
Toxin Weapons
Convention
BTWC (1972)

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 Radioactivity
• A single chemical element can have different masses: isotopes
• Different isotopes have the same chemical properties
• Isotopes were/are created in
• imploding heavy stars and the upper layer of the earth’s atmosphere
• industrial devices: nuclear power plant, particle accelerators, A-bomb
• Some isotopes are unstable, they are radioactive
• Example
• Carbon: C-12, C-13, C-14

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 Radioactivity
• Radioactive isotopes decay spontaneously and emit radiation
• Radiation can damage other (biological) materials:
• Especially DNA damage in cells
• Cell death (a few days) or tumor formation (>20 years)
• Three main types of radiation:
• alpha particles (α)
• beta particles (β)
• gamma rays (γ)

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 Properties of Radiation
• Alpha (α) particles:
• Large and heavy particles, cause much damage
• Short distance in air (cm), stopped by paper and skin
• Dangerous when inhaled or ingested
• Beta (β) particles:
• Light particles, cause considerable damage
• Medium distance in air (10m)
• Moderate penetration depth, stopped by plexiglass or aluminium
• Gamma (γ) rays:
• Electromagnetic radiation, like visible light (but with much more energy)
• Damage dependent on energy
• Large penetration depth, reduced by concrete or lead but not stopped

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 Classification of Radioactive Isotopes
• Radioactive isotopes are categorized into three main groups based on the
radiation they emit (α, β or γ)
• Likely a whole ‘family’ of radiation products are emitted
• Energy and number of α, β and γ particles are used to identify the isotope
• Identification has a high level of certainty

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 Sources and materials
• Radiation sources used in industrial, research, or medical applications
• Radioactive isotopes contained in solid material (closed source) or in a liquid or
gas (open source).
• Radiological and Nuclear materials emit radiation
• Differences between Radiological (R) and Nuclear (N) materials are subtle
• Historical, not all countries use the same definition
• Nuclear material is extremely strictly regulated, as it can be used to build
atomic bombs or fuel Nuclear Power Plants
• The RN-part of CBRN does NOT involve radiation from powerlines, cellphones,
microwaves, or UV from the sun
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 Take home message
• Chemical agents
• two main groups of chemical agents: Toxic Industrial Chemicals (TICs) and
Chemical Warfare Agents (CWAs)
• have various levels of toxicity
• Biological agents
• four main groups: Parasites, Bacteria, Viruses, and Toxins
• are infectious at various levels (or toxic: toxins)
• Radiological and Nuclear materials
• three main types of radiation: α, β, and γ
• Penetration depth increases from α to γ
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 Thank you for your attention

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