Chemical
The National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) is creating a process to identify potential chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear (CBRN) threats from non-state actors.
The project, called Advancing U.S. CWMD/CWMT Capabilities in Support of the... Read More »
Under a $4.6 million contract with the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) and Defense Innovation United (DIU), PercuSense has been tapped to develop a continuous biosensor system for early detection of potential toxic chemical exposure among soldiers and first responders.
PercuSense, a... Read More »
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) a series of recommendations regarding chemical facility cybersecurity oversight.
Officials said DHS’s Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) program evaluates high-risk chemical... Read More »
Researchers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have developed smart, breathable fabric designed to protect against biological and chemical warfare agents.
The material could be used by healthcare workers and first responders in clinical and medical settings as well as military... Read More »
Congressional legislators on Friday introduced two bipartisan bills in the U.S. House of Representatives to bolster the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS), the nation’s repository of antibiotics, vaccines and other critical medical supplies that has been strained by the current coronavirus... Read More »
A new report from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) attributes three instances of chemical weapons use in 2017 to the Assad regime in Syria.
The report from the OPCW Investigation and Identification Team (IIT) concluded that there are grounds to believe that the... Read More »
The Temporary Reauthorization and Study of the Emergency Scheduling of Fentanyl Analogues Act was signed into law last week by President Donald Trump.
The legislation extends the Drug Enforcement Agency’s temporary order making fentanyl-related substances Schedule I, a designation reserved... Read More »
Department of the Treasury officials said the agency’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctioned four international petrochemical and petroleum companies they said aided financing of Iran's terrorist activities.
The action targets Triliance Petrochemical Co. Ltd. (Triliance), a... Read More »
As the U.S. opioid epidemic continues, and with a criminalization order against fentanyl-related substances set to expire, U.S. Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) took to the Senate floor this week urging legislation to permanently schedule the drugs.
The existing scheduling order against fentanyl --... Read More »
Bolstering what could become the first antibiotic developed and acquired by Project BioShield to treat drug-resistant bioterrorism agents, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) intends to supply up to $169 million to Paratek Pharmaceuticals, Inc. over the next five years.
The... Read More »
Attorneys general from every U.S. state and territory have endorsed a bill by U.S. Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) that would permanently criminalize fentanyl-related substances.
In February 2018, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) issued a temporary order to criminalize fentanyl-related... Read More »
A bipartisan group of U.S. senators recently sent a letter to Mark Esper, the secretary of defense, expressing concern over the national security risks posed by U.S. reliance on foreign-manufactured pharmaceutical products.
The letter is in response to the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review... Read More »
Chemical industry officials said the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) would be at the forefront of establishing guidelines promoting safety and security.
During the recent second edition of the Workshop on Developing Tools for Chemical Safety and Security at Almaty in... Read More »
The 24th session of the Conference of the States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) is gathering this week in The Hague to address new projects, encourage cooperation, and chart the progress of their shared endeavor.
“The recent use of chemical weapons, as well as the potential... Read More »
The head of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) briefed the United Nations Security Council on issues related to Syria’s chemical weapons last week.
The UN officials expressed their support for the objectives of the Chemical Weapons Convention and the work of the... Read More »
Sens. Gary Peters (D-MI), Cory Gardner (R-CO), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) introduced Wednesday a bill to protect firefighters from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in firefighting foams.
The Protecting Firefighters from Adverse Substances (PFAS) Act of 2019 has... Read More »
A bipartisan group of federal legislators introduced last week a bill to fight the spread of synthetic drugs.
Synthetic drugs are re-engineered to circumvent federal laws designed to outlaw them. The Stop Importation and Manufacturing of Synthetic Analogues (SIMSA) Act would allow substances... Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate recently developed a suite of models at its Chemical Security Analysis Center (CSAC) to help federal agencies analyze threats, vulnerabilities, and consequences of potential chemical attacks.
The Chemical Consequence and... Read More »
The chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security opened Wednesday’s hearing on global terrorism criticizing President Donald Trump and his bid to name a new acting director of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), on the day before Kevin McAleenan was scheduled to end his five-month... Read More »
Medical professionals from 20 countries recently attended an international course on the medical management of chemical casualties at the Air Force Medical University in Xi’an, China.
Participants were trained in the advanced hospital care of the victims of toxic chemicals or chemical weapons... Read More »
Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) officials recently joined global parliamentarians in discussing means of implementing the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).
During the 141st Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in Belgrade, Serbia, parties met to exchange... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is backing a new technology that will allow doctors to better understand injuries caused by inhaled chlorine gas.
The technology is referred to as lung-on-a-chip, developed by Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM). The... Read More »
Doha, Qatar, served as the site of a training initiative focusing on addressing risks arising from chemical accidents and the potential misuse of toxic chemicals in ports and maritime venues.
“We aim to raise global standards and set norms for the safety, security, and efficiency of ports and... Read More »
The U.S. House of Representatives advanced last week bipartisan legislation that would create a task force within the Department of Homeland Security.
The Joint Task Force to Combat Opioid Trafficking Act is aimed at preventing foreign fentanyl and other opioids from entering the country. The... Read More »
The U.S. Department of Drug Enforcement (DEA) is initiating an effort to combat the drug abuse epidemic in the South Coast region of Massachusetts.
The DEA is initiating a “360 Strategy” in that region – which is a comprehensive diversion control, law enforcement, and prevention program to... Read More »
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and state forensic lab researchers in Maryland and Vermont have developed a new technique designed to improve drug evidence testing safety.
Lab researchers have demonstrated a process allowing police to test whether a baggie or other package... Read More »
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel have partnered with the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate as a means of bolstering illegal opioid detection methods.
Synthetic Opioid Detection at Speed (SODAS) began after a report by the President’s... Read More »
A U.S. House committee hearing on Wednesday focused on how to strengthen a federal program that protects high-risk chemical facilities from terrorist attacks.
“High-risk chemical facilities hold large stores of industrial chemicals that pose a safety and security risk to the American people... Read More »
Kentucky’s Boyd County has been chosen for inclusion in the Appalachia High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) program.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said the HIDTA program provides law enforcement agencies in designated counties with coordination, equipment, technology,... Read More »
Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) officials said the agency is using artificial intelligence (AI) to address the opioid epidemic, one of the nation’s leading health challenges.
The recent DIA DoDIIS Worldwide Conference in Florida served as the backdrop for Brian Drake, the DIA’s Science and... Read More »
The Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) has contracted with a firm to aid a burn imaging device’s development.
The two-year, $27.3 million contract with SpectralMD, Inc., of Dallas, Texas, advances the... Read More »
The United States has finally cleared a medical product known as Silverlon for use in treating mustard gas-induced blisters, marking a first for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Mustard gas -- or sulfur mustard -- saw its most first and most devastating widespread use in World War I, but... Read More »
A bill designed to protect the health and safety of firefighters and emergency responders frequently exposed to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in foams was recently introduced by Sens. Cory Gardner (R-CO), Gary Peters (D-MI), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), and Maggie Hassan (D-NH).
The... Read More »
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently cleared the first use of a commercially available product to manage blister injuries caused by sulfur mustard, otherwise known as mustard gas.
Silverlon, a silver-plated nylon dressing, is used widely to aid in the management of acute skin wounds... Read More »
U.S. Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) announced last week that several key provisions that he worked to advance were included in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
The Taking Back Congressional Authority Over War Authorization amendment prohibits the United States from spending funds that could... Read More »
