Handbook of Chemical and Biological Warfare Agents [Hardcover]

D. Hank Ellison (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0849328039 | ISBN-13: 978-0849328039 | Publication Date: August 27, 1999

With terrorist groups expanding their weapons of destruction beyond bombs and bullets, chemical and biological warfare agents aren't merely limited to the battlefield anymore. In some cases, they are now being used on a new front: major metropolitan cities. And in the Handbook of Chemical and Biological Warfare Agents, emergency response personnel-from HazMat and Police SWAT teams to Explosive Ordinance Disposal units-will find a myriad of information on how to deal with such incidents involving dangerous chemical and biological agents.

The 504-page book is formatted into a series of indices developed to facilitate rapid access to key information on chemical, biological and toxin agents, with each index cross-referenced to all others. The wealth of data not only include the physical appearance, odor, signs and symptoms of dangerous materials such as nerve agents and vesicants, but the detection and removal of such agents and the treatment of victims.

Author D. Hank Ellison, a former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency emergency responder and officer in the Chemical Corps who provides chemical and biological counterterrorism training to HazMat, Police SWAT and Explosive Ordinance Disposal teams, also includes a litany of guidelines from such sources as the US Army, DOT and other agencies.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 528 pages
• Publisher: CRC Press (August 27, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0849328039
• ISBN-13: 978-0849328039
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 6.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,808,260 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A bit disappointing, April 13, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Handbook of Chemical and Biological Warfare Agents (Hardcover)

The fact that it was published by CRC Press may have led me to set my expectations a bit high, and I felt let down by this handbook. There were some surprising deficiencies - CAS registry numbers were absent for some of the chemical agents, for instance. I was particularly disappointed by the section on the Novichok agents, which was essentially a repeat of the newspaper comments of Mirzayanov. On the plus side, it covers all the common CW agents, some uncommon CW agents (although the basis for their selection is unclear), some industrial materials and CW agent precursors, and a fair selection of BW agents and toxins for a total of 348 agents. On the minus side, it provides only very limited data on each, stacking them at more than 3/page. The class indexes contain some useful information, but are necessarily very general. The 100 pages of reprints of ERG guidlines are probably not needed. The section on weapon markings is interesting, but limited to US weapons only, and lacks illustrations. The first 110+ pages do contain a potentially useful list of synonyms, although again, the selection criteria are not clear. The glossary is reasonably complete. PPE data is only a single page. The sample collection section is vague about what to do with collected samples. Probably useful (along with FM 3-9) for poison control facilities and the libraries of emergency management agencies, but not laid out (hardbound, difficult to keep open to a page) or complete enough (volatilities,vapor pressures are given for only one temperature, for instance) for field use.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Resource, November 6, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Handbook of Chemical and Biological Warfare Agents (Hardcover)

This book is a wealth of information that emergency responders will be hard pressed to find complied anywhere else. The book cleverly adopts several widely used formats in presenting information unique to chemical and biological agents. These formats, which are familiar to emergency response personnel, allow for easy and rapid access to relevant hazard information. The Class Indexes are formatted to look like an MSDS, and the Agent Indexes are modeled after NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards. Finally, the Alphabetical Index of agents is probably the most complete listing of agents and their synonyms that can be found.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Accurate, but not what you might expect., October 31, 2001

By 

Reid Kirby (St. Charles, MO) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Handbook of Chemical and Biological Warfare Agents (Hardcover)

I once ordered a book from CBIAC on survivability of materials to CBW Agents. From all descriptions, I believed it to be something that discussed various materials and mechanisms of failure. Unfortunately, it turned out to be nothing more than a list of materials with a rating code.

Handbook is a bit better. However, don't purchase this if you are expecting to read a book on CBW Agents and wanting a better understanding of the topic. Handbook is written sort of like those manuals you find on any truck caring hazardous materials...a list of UN codes, chemical names, and safe distances for spills. Overall, the intent seems to be a presentation of CBW Agents in the same format as typically used for occupational health and safety (TWA's, etc.)

I applaud the author for his thoroughness. He described Nerve Agent GP (actually GP11) of the GV Series with information that is not readily available. As usual, the Novichok agents have been misrepresented as a class of chemicals (it's a technique), with no more detail than what has been previously described.

The first section of the book is an index of all the various nomenclature applied to CBW Agents (military symbols, trivial names, other designations etc.) Following this section is a series of brief excerpts on each agent. Nothing in-depth on these agents, and the toxicology information (if available) is pretty much limited to the No-Effect thresholds used for occupational health. Subsequent sections treat each broad category of agents with information typical in MSDS's - very generic.

What most readers will find difficult about this book is that it is likened to indexes to indexes, and then once you find what you are looking for - it's more generic than most readers would prefer.