Analyzing acute-chemical-release data to describe chemicals that may be used as weapons of terrorism.

The authors analyzed a database of acute chemical releases to describe characteristics of chemicals that may be used as weapons of terrorism. Chemicals of primary concern (Priority I) on the Chemical Terrorism Listing of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were cross-referenced with data for 1993-2002 from the Hazardous Substances Emergency Events Surveillance (HSEES) system. HSEES captured 58,043 single-substance releases of 2,366 chemicals during this time period. The 48 Priority I chemicals accounted for 11,567 (20 percent) of the releases, while representing only 2.0 percent of reported chemicals. Events involving Priority I chemicals resulted in twice as many victims, more injured members of the general public, more victims treated at hospitals, a higher frequency of respiratory irritation, more evacuations, more people evacuated per event, and more decontaminations than did all other HSEES events. Industry, responders, and hospitals should consider the results of this analysis in preparing for and responding to acute chemical releases.