The lead of Notre-Dame The fire of Notre-Dame de Paris on April 15, 2019 not only almost destroyed forever one of the most beautiful jewels of medieval Gothic art, but its consequences raise an important environmental problem: lead poisoning. The spire inaugurated in 1859 by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc was built of oak wood and contained 250…
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The main risks We have often talked on this blog about chemical events that have occurred accidentally or as a result of a terrorist attack Among these events, the sarin gas attack in the Tokyo metro is one of the most studied. The attack was carried out on 20 March 1995 and was initiated by…
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The security police, who are responsible for maintaining security during the demonstrations that are taking place in our country, may have been targeted by jets of corrosive products such as strong acids. This is an opportunity for us to review chemical burns: how do the products work, what are the emergency treatments? A glimpse of…
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An article in Nature on February 26, 2019 reports that the United States has just adopted a new response protocol in response to an attack or following a chemical industrial accident, which is important for at least two reasons: The new protocol, including dry decontamination, will significantly improve the care provided to victims; It is…
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What is this about? In the case of contamination by chemical warfare agents, acidic projections or industrial chemicals, it is imperative to have a decontamination process in place to quickly remove dangerous agents from the surface on which they have been dispersed. Immediate decontamination (military concept) or emergency decontamination (medical concept) is generally carried out…
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The French Society of Disaster Medicine has just organized a session “Children and Disasters” in order to better understand the problems raised by children who are victims of a disaster. This gave us the opportunity to review the literature on pediatric decontamination that we propose to you here. Special vulnerabilities of children Smaller in…
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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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A review has just been published in: The New England Journal of Medicine, 2018, 378, 1611-1620 “G.R. Ciottone, Toxidrome recognition in chemical-weapons attacks”. It makes an excellent evaluation of the clinical signs to know to apply the good treatments in case of chemical attack. Specialists can refer to the original article for more information. Definition…
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There is a lot of talk about plant phytosanitary products and this is an opportunity to take a look at the use of these chemical or biological substances in agriculture and the protection measures associated with them. Definitions A phytopharmaceutical product is a preparation containing one or more active substances for: protect plants or plant…
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A glance at history The remarkable conservation of the Egyptian artificial mummies is due to the fact that they were prepared with natron and essential oils with antibacterial properties. By preventing bacteria from developing these products allowed a remarkable preservation of mummified bodies. Ramses II mummie (1304 av. J.-C. – 1213 av. J.-C.) Some definitions…
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