Chemical
In response to recent reports of a chemical weapons attack in the Khan Shaykhun area of southern Idlib in Syria, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) condemned the reported use of chemical weapons and provided updates of its fact-finding mission in the country.
The... Read More »
The U.S. House of Representatives advanced last week U.S.
Rep. David Young’s (R-IA) Securing our Agriculture and Food Act (H.R. 1238), which aims to prevent acts of agro-terrorism from affecting the nation’s food supply.
The bill requires the Secretary of Homeland Security to enhance the... Read More »
Sustainable federal funding to develop and stockpile medical countermeasures is critical to the security and public health emergency preparedness of the United States, panelists said during a Bipartisan Policy Center event on Tuesday.
And medical countermeasures are needed now as the United... Read More »
Marines and sailors assigned to the Chemical Biological Incident Response Force (CBIRF) in Indian Head, Maryland recently traveled to Guardian Centers in Perry, Georgia to take part in Exercise Scarlet Response 2017.
The annual exercise aims to develop skills related to chemical biological (CB)... Read More »
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Director-General Ahmet Üzümcü recently paid an official visit to Singapore, where he gave the keynote address at the Singapore International Symposium on Protection Against Toxic Substances.
In his address, Üzümcü touched on... Read More »
The Executive Council of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) recently adopted a decision to condemn the use of the Schedule 1 liquid nerve agent VX, which was used in a fatal incident last month at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
The incident occurred on Feb.... Read More »
At a meeting coordinated by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and the National Committee for the Prohibition of Weapons (NCPW) of Qatar, experts discussed the latest trends in chemical safety, security, and nonproliferation initiatives.
The Fifth Seminar on Chemical... Read More »
FLIR Systems, Inc. recently received a delivery order valued at $54.2 million from the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) for 50 U.S. Army chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear dismounted reconnaissance sets, kits and outfit (CBRN DR-SKO) systems.
The order is part of a five-year... Read More »
U.S. Reps. Donald M. Payne, Jr. (D-NJ), David Young (R-IA) and Dan Donovan (R-NY) recently introduced a bill to ensure the safety of the nation’s food supply by combating the threat of potential agro-terrorism.
The Securing our Agriculture and Food Act would require the Secretary of Homeland... Read More »
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) SIGMA program, a project aimed at preventing attacks from radiological or “dirty” bombs, recently completed its biggest test deployment of vehicle-mounted radiation detectors in Washington, D.C.
The test, which began last July and... Read More »
U.S. Sens. Pat Roberts (R-KS) and Claire McCaskill (D-MO) introduced legislation last week to help protect against a terror-style attack on the nation’s agriculture industry and ensure food safety for American consumers.
The Securing our Agriculture and Food Act would require the Secretary of... Read More »
Fifteen member states of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) took part in a training course last month aimed at preparing each member in handling emergency response to chemical incidents.
The course was held in Colombo, Sri Lanka from Feb. 6-10 and was the fifth... Read More »
The Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) recently awarded a contract to Leidos, a global science and technology company, to support the agency’s cooperative biological engagement program (CBEP), cooperative threat reduction program (CTR), and scientific and technical engagement partnership... Read More »
The Edgewood Chemical Biological Center’s (ECBC) Environmental Monitoring Laboratory (EML) recently participated in an exercise that simulated a domestic response to malathion contamination in both milk and water.
Malathion is a widely-used pesticide typically found in agriculture, residential... Read More »
Three national security-related bills authored by U.S. Rep. Martha McSally recently advanced the U.S. House of Representatives.
The first bill, the CBRN Intelligence and Information Sharing Act, aims to improve information sharing practices between the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)... Read More »
Emergent BioSolutions Inc. recently received approval by a regulatory agency under the German Federal Ministry of Health for its large-scale manufacturing facility in Michigan, paving the way for the company to market its anthrax vaccine BioThrax in Germany and other countries.
Emergent said its... Read More »
The Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC), the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center, and North Carolina State University recently teamed up to develop a uniform that destroys chemical agents on contact using a type of... Read More »
Battelle, a nonprofit research and development institute, said the key to preparing for the rapidly growing threat of biological or chemical weapons is by developing countermeasures with technology that is tested against live agents.
Battelle’s recommendation was directed toward defense... Read More »
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), along with the World Customs Organization (WCO), recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that enhances cooperation to tighten national and international controls on the trade of toxic chemicals.
The MOU was signed by... Read More »
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) recently implemented sanctions in response to findings that the Syrian government under President Bashar al-Assad used industrial chlorine as a weapon against its own people.
OFAC’s conclusions were based on a... Read More »
A new law that would protect first responders in the event of a terrorist attack using anthrax drew strong support from the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC).
The First Responder Anthrax Preparedness Act requires the Department of Homeland Security to carry out a five-year pilot... Read More »
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) recently began a fact-finding mission in Syria in the wake of allegations that chemical weapons have been used in the area of Uqayribat in the Hama Governate in Syria.
The area in question has been linked to the control of the... Read More »
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Ambassador Ahmet Üzümcü recently met with the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Worship of Costa Rica H.E. Alejandro Solano Ortiz to discuss a range of issues related to chemical weapons disarmament and the Chemical Weapons... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) on Friday announced the selection of Rick Bright for the position of Deputy Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, and Director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA).
“BARDA succeeds through... Read More »
The head of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) discussed the growing threat of chemical terrorism and the challenges of permanently eliminating chemical weapons during a visit to Poland this week.
OPCW Director-General Ahmet Üzümcü met with Polish Minister of... Read More »
Director-General of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Ahmet Üzümcü recently spoke at Georgetown University in Doha, Qatar about the ongoing efforts to uphold the global ban on chemical weapons.
Üzümcü’s speech was part of a larger conference called the State... Read More »
Director-General for the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Ahmet Üzümcü recently spoke on preventing the use of chemical weapons at the Regional Seminar on Chemical Safety and Security Management in Bangladesh.
Attendees of the seminar shared best practices for... Read More »
Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Director General Ahmet Üzümcü met with Finland’s Secretary of State at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs H.E. Peter Stenlund at OPCW headquarters in The Hague on Friday to discuss aspects of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).
The... Read More »
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) recently held a training seminar for customs officials in Eastern Europe to strengthen their ability to uphold the global ban on chemical weapon.
The seminar, held in Krakow, Poland on Sept. 27-30, featured 32 participants from such... Read More »
Aeolus Pharmaceuticals, Inc., published additional data demonstrating the efficacy of AEOL 10150 as a medical countermeasure to sulfur mustard gas exposure on Monday.
The data showed that treatment with AEOL 10150 48 hours after exposure to sulfur mustard gas improved survival rates from 36... Read More »
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) recently conducted a workshop attended by chemistry professionals from across Africa to assist in the implementation of industry-related provisions of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).
The workshop, held in Nairobi, included... Read More »
Bechtel, a global engineering, construction and project management company, applauded efforts by the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant on Thursday to successfully process chemical weapons previously held in the U.S. chemical stockpile.
The pilot plant was built by and operated under... Read More »
Aeolus Pharmaceuticals, Inc., recently released data confirming the efficacy of AEOL 10150 as a medical countermeasure against sulfur mustard gas inhalation.
Research for the study was conducted by Dr. Brian Day, vice chair of research at National Jewish Health, in collaboration with the U.S.... Read More »
Director General for the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Ahmet Üzümcü recently confirmed that the remaining chemical weapons stocks left in Libya have been successfully removed from the country.
The operation was facilitated in part by the OPCW in response to... Read More »
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) held a course last week with representatives of 42 national authorities from across the globe focused on enhancing their capacity for implementing the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).
The course focused on the vital tasks nations... Read More »
