Current images show that tear gases are massively used to maintain order during demonstrations. This leads us to ask ourselves some questions to better understand these products: what is their composition, how did they appear, what are their mode of action and toxicity, how can they be protected or even eliminated, what is the legislation…
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As already mentioned, the former acronym BCN (Bacteriological, Chemical, Nuclear) has evolved towards the acronym BCRNe (Biological, Chemical, Nuclear, explosive) to better reflect the paradigm shift, state threat vs. terrorist threat the “e” meaning explosive, considered as a vector for the diffusion of a BCRN agent. Given the evolution in the number of operational missions…
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During the Cold War the Western nations and the USSR developed weapons of mass destruction. Although many of these programs are “top secret”, some information is known about the synthesis of chemical agents by the USSR under the FOLIANT and NOVICHOK programs, both developed in response to the English and American development of agent VX….
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What is this about? Poisoning in children is usually characterized by delirium, convulsion or decreased consciousness. In children under 5 years of age, poison ingestion is unintentional, while in adolescence, self-harm or accidents due to alcohol or drug use appear. The diagnosis must be made quickly in order to treat effectively. We will therefore see…
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We have had the opportunity on several occasions in this blog to talk about biological warfare. An interesting review has just been published on this subject and it is an opportunity for us to review our current knowledge of this BCRNE threat. Historical background The first to use biological weapons was undoubtedly the Carthaginian general…
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What is this about? In the field of CBRN, it is common to distinguish “Weapons of Mass Destruction” (WMD) as nuclear weapons and “Weapons of Mass Disorganization“. The latter, although responsible for very significant physical and psychological injuries, have devastating social and economic disruption consequences that are not comparable in intensity to those of…
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Today, many fire brigades have equipped their units with thermal cameras. They provide invaluable services in terms of fire detection, victim search or electrical circuit monitoring, for example. For the 125th National Fire Brigade Congress to be held from 26 to 29 September 2018 in Bourg en Bresse, we wanted to know more about the…
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We have talked about anthrax several times in this blog and have focused on the “biological weapon” aspect of anthrax. We can refresh our memory by following these links : North Corea and anthrax, Sverdlovsk, Sverdlovsk again, 2001 October letter-bomb, Gruinard Island The outbreak this summer of a serious epidemic in France allows us to recall what anthrax…
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In our blog dated August 30, 2016, we already looked at firefighters’ health and in particular the long-term impact of toxic substances such as polycyclic aromatics (PAHs), PCBs, bisphenol A, benzenes and heavy oils, VOCs and other oxygenated compounds causing cancers of the rectum, anus, prostate and liver, melanoma, multiple myeloma and other acute myeloid…
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A very interesting review article has just been published in the journal “surgery”. It’s signed A. Calder and S. Bland and we can find him by following this link . Several major accidents involving a CBRN component have occurred over the past 25 years. These include the deliberate use of chemicals in Tokyo in 1995 (Sarin), Iraq…
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