Chemical
A bill that aims to strengthen the nation’s preparedness of its food, agriculture, and veterinary systems against terrorism and other high-risk events through the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was recently signed into law by President Trump.
The bill was introduced by U.S. Rep.... Read More »
Latin American and Caribbean State Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) recently convened at a meeting at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons’ headquarters in The Hague to commemorate the CWC’s 20th anniversary and discuss the full implementation of the... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has fully implemented its chemical facility anti-terrorism standards (CFATS) expedited approval program, but participation to date has been limited, according to a recent report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO).
Each facility... Read More »
Currently, Dr. Jeffrey Laskin, director of the Rutgers University CounterACT Research Center of Excellence, leads a team conducting research on the exposure and health effects of chemical warfare agents used by terrorists. The researchers are determined to develop medical... Read More »
Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC) researchers recently received a patent for their field deployable hydrolysis system (FDHS), which was used to destroy approximately 600 tons of Syrian chemical warfare material aboard a maritime vessel in international waters back in 2014.
According to... Read More »
Ahmet Üzümcü, Director-General of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), recently gave a speech to key U.S. State Department officials in a commemorative event to mark the Chemical Weapons Convention’s (CWC) 20th anniversary during his visit to the United States.
... Read More »
Efforts to protect the nation’s agriculture sector and food supply against terrorist attacks and high-risk events would be ratched up under a bill that the House approved on Monday.
The Securing Our Agriculture and Food Act, H.R. 1238, would direct the U.S. Department of Homeland Security... Read More »
Ahmet Üzümcü, Director-General of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), recently met with senior Chinese government officials during an official OPCW visit to China to deliver a lecture of chemical weapons destruction and the threat of chemical weapons use by non-state... Read More »
Three amendments, authored by U.S. Rep. Donald M. Payne, Jr. (D-NJ), were included in the recently-passed Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Authorization Act of 2017 by the U.S. House of Representatives, each of which addresses a specific challenge in disaster response, oversight and... Read More »
During a meeting of the Science for Peace and Security (SPS) Program, various scientists and experts from North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) partner countries recently examined opportunities for cooperation to address emerging security-related challenges.
Organized in conjunction with... Read More »
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently granted fast track designation for Aeolus Pharmaceuticals’ treatment to prevent respiratory failure among patients at risk for radiation pneumonitis following a radiological incident which often leads to acute radiation syndrome (Lung-ARS).
... Read More »
The Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC), the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center, the Battle Memorial Institute, and Priority Designs recently partnered to produce an improved protective mask against biological agents for soldiers in the field.
The new... Read More »
A training course on strengthening toxic chemical response capabilities for first responders from Latin America and the Caribbean was recently co-hosted by Uruguay’s National Authority and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).
The course featured experts in the... Read More »
At a commemoration ceremony celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), more than 40 participants gathered from 29 Asian States Parties to offer robust cooperation practices to implement provisions of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).
... Read More »
A training exercise designed to teach participants on the use of individual protective equipment, chemical containment, rescue operations, forensic techniques, and decontamination procedures was recently held in Buenos Aires, Argentina and hosted by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical... Read More »
During a recent workshop on ways to mitigate risk from dirty bombs, California Gov. Jerry Brown, U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), and former U.S. Sen. Sam Nunn (D-GA) cautioned more than 60 attendees to increase efforts to lock down, and if possible, completely eliminate radiological materials... Read More »
A team of scientists from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) recently began an initiative on developing technologies to detect trace amount of fentanyl, heroin, and other substances to help prevent accidental exposure for law enforcement.
Through a research paper... Read More »
Indonesia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi recently visited the headquarters of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to meet with OPCW Director-General Ahmet Üzümcü and discuss the implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention.
Üzümcü first... Read More »
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker
(R-TN) recently appeared on CNN to respond to a video that showed the aftermath of the reported chemical weapons attack in southern Idlib, Syria by Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
The attack provided the impetus for a missile strike response... Read More »
Independent testing of approximately three dozen biodetection products was recently conducted by researchers at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in order to evaluate their effectiveness in detecting biothreat agents like anthrax and ricin for first responders.
The independent... Read More »
A delegation of Namibian representatives recently visited the headquarters of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to discuss various initiatives related to the full implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).
The delegation included members of the... Read More »
With the nation’s signature preparedness law due for reauthorization in 2018, leaders now are readying public health stakeholders across local, state and federal levels for battle on Capitol Hill.
Not only should those in the public health sector be battle-ready to support renewal of the... Read More »
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), in collaboration with the University of Wuppertal in Germany, recently held two courses that focused on loss prevention and safety promotion in the chemical industry, giving students important information on modern technical safety... Read More »
Researchers specializing in anthrax bacterium Bacillus anthracis and its two related bacillus species, B. cereus and B. thurigiensis, will convene in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada for the International Conference on Bacillus ACT in October to present their work with more than 200 global... Read More »
Soligenix, Inc. will be presenting results from its ricin toxin vaccine (RiVax) development program at the 20th Annual Conference on Vaccine Research next week
RiVax is a proprietary vaccine candidate used for the prevention of ricin toxin exposure that utilizes an antigen devoid of ricin... Read More »
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons’ (OPCW) Executive Council recently reconvened to further discuss allegations that the Syrian regime, led by President Bashar al-Assad, used chemical weapons on its own people in southern Idlib, Syria.
On April 4, a chemical weapons... Read More »
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) new developmental field-deployable, chemical warfare agent-scrubbing system successfully demonstrated that it can safely neutralize more than 99.9999 percent of toxic chemicals simulating sarin, soman, and mustard agents from soil without... Read More »
A research team from Harvard Medical School recently revealed how the body’s immune system responds to the presence of anthrax spores.
Anthrax bacterium, called Bacillus anthracis, was used as a weaponized chemical agent in 2001, when a series of letters coated in the chemical agent were sent... Read More »
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons’ (OPCW) Executive Council convened last week to discuss allegations that the Syrian regime, led by Bashar al-Assad, conducted a chemical weapons attack on its own people.
On April 4, a chemical weapons attack occurred in the Khan... Read More »
Marines assigned to the Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) Defense Platoon, Marine Forces Reserve recently completed a seven-day assessment and consequence training exercise at the Volunteer Training Site in Catoosa, Georgia.
Participants took part in exercises, including... Read More »
U.S. Reps. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) and Ron DeSantis (R-FL) recently sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, requesting communications related to a 2013 chemical weapons agreement by the Obama Administration, the Russian Federation, and the Syrian government.
The letter comes in... Read More »
A delegation from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) recently visited the Blue Grass Chemical Weapons Destruction Facility (CWDF) in Kentucky after receiving an invitation from U.S. officials.
The visit comes in the wake of a deadly chemical weapons attack in the... Read More »
Battelle recently announced it has entered into a research and development agreement with Nanotherapeutics Inc. to expedite the creation of new medical countermeasures for deployed military forces facing a variety of chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) threats.
The agreement... Read More »
Congressional leaders said they supported President Donald Trump’s authorization of a missile strike against Syria on Thursday in response to a deadly chemical weapons attack that killed dozens of civilians.
Trump authorized the launch of 59 Tomahawk missiles at a Syrian air base suspected of... Read More »
Officials from the Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical and Biological Defense (JPEO-CBD) and the Army Material Command (AMC) recently called on the Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC) to provide assistance to increase efficiencies and reduce costs in the nation’s... Read More »
