First discovered accidentally during the 1930s by industrial chemists in Germany conducting pesticide research, the nerve agents Tabun (GA) and Sarin (GB) were developed into chemical weapons and stockpiled by the Nazi regime. After the war, the victorious Allies competed among themselves for the secrets of the Nazi nerve agent program. In the early 1950s, British industrial scientists accidentally discovered a second generation of nerve agents that were even more toxic than Sarin and were dubbed “V agents” because of their venomous (skin-penetrating) properties. During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union pursued a chemical arms race in which they produced and stockpiled various nerve agents in the thousands of tons. For a detailed history for the general reader of the discovery, development, proliferation, and control of nerve agents such as Tabun, Sarin, Soman, and VX, read the 2006 book, War of Nerves: Chemical Warfare from World War I to Al-Qaeda, By Jonathan B. Tucker. During the 1960s, ocean dumping, open pit burning, and land burials were the U.S. Armys method of destroying chemical weapons. In 1969, the National Academy of Sciences recommended that ocean dumping be avoided. In the late 1960s President Nixon halts the production of chemical weapons. In 1972, the Army formed the U.S. Army Materiel Commands Program Manager for Demilitarization of Chemical Materiel, headquartered at Picatinny Arsenal, near Dover, NJ. The Army developed chemical weapons disposal methods using incineration and chemical neutralization. Project Eagle incinerates six million pounds of mustard agent and neutralizes eight million pounds of nerve agent GB (sarin) at Rocky Mountain Arsenal, Colo. between 1972 and 1976. Today, The U.S. Army’s Chemical Materials Agency (CMA) safely stores and destroys the nation’s aging chemical weapons and recovers the nation’s chemical warfare materials. The agency is based at the Edgewood Area of the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, while other managers and staff fulfill the agency’s mission from weapons storage and disposal at locations across the county. For more on the CMA, link to their website at http://www.cma.army.mil/home.aspx . This clip is from the 1963 film, Nerve Agents, available at the national Archives. The film is from the U. S. Army Training Film series on the features and tactical use of GA (tabun), GB (sarin), and V-class nerve agents as munitions for chemical warfare. Explains how the nerve gas agents enter the human body and the symptoms of poisoning, and shows the protective and first-aid measures that may be taken against them.

Duration : 0:1:0

Technorati Tags: agent, Army, CBRNE, Chemical, dod, DOE, EPA, GA, GB, Germany, hazardous, hazmat, hazwoper, health, history, hygiene, industrial, material, military, Nerve, NIEHS, OSHA, safety, sarin, us, VX, warfare, WMD, worker, wwII

In the 1950s, the US began developing detection and warning systems for chemical warfare agents (CWAs). The early detection kits significantly improved a soldiers ability to detect the presence of CWAs. However, it soon became apparent that they were difficult to use under battlefield conditions. Each kit contained breakable components and the procedures required to conduct the various tests were difficult to accomplish while wearing protective gear. In 1968, the US military developed the M8 Portable Automatic Chemical Agent Alarm, the first mass-produced field detector for nerve agents. This was a significant accomplishment in chemical defense and this new fielded technology corrected a major deficiency that had made U.S. soldiers vulnerable to a surprise nerve agent attack. This is clipped from the 1963 film, Nerve Agents, available at the US National Archives. The film is from the U. S. Army Training Film series on the features and tactical use of GA (tabun), GB (sarin), and V-class nerve agents as munitions for chemical warfare. Explains how the nerve gas agents enter the human body and the symptoms of poisoning, and shows the protective and first-aid measures that may be taken against them.

Duration : 0:2:7

Technorati Tags: agent, air, Army, CBRNE, Chemical, dod, DOE, EPA, GA, GB, Germany, hazardous, hazmat, hazwoper, health, hygiene, industrial, material, military, Nerve, NIEHS, OSHA, safety, sampling, sarin, symptoms, test, us, VX, warfare, WMD, worker, wwII

Nerve agents are essentially odorless and are deadly at low concentrations, so a quick and accurate detection method was required. The method selected was biological monitoring. Rabbits, which were found to be very susceptible to the nerve agents, were placed in the vicinity of the weapons. This method continued in use during transportation until 1969, and at some storage installations into the early 1980’s. This is clipped from the 1971 US Army film, Operation Red Hat: Men and a Mission. In July of 1969, 23 U.S. servicemen and one U.S. civilian stationed in Okinawa, Japan, were hospitalized after being exposed to low levels of the nerve agent sarin while repainting the military depot buildings. The weapons had been kept secret from Japan, sparking a furor in that country, an international incident and the creation of Operation Red Hat. The army had announced that the chemical weapons on Okinawa would be moved to Umatilla Army Depot in Oregon. This triggered a series of lawsuits that attracted the concern of Congress. The next year, Public Law 91-672 was enacted, which prohibited the army from moving the weapons from Okinawa to anywhere on the U.S. mainland. Operation Red Hat moved the stockpile on Okinawa to Johnston Atoll, a small U.S. island in the South Pacific, for long-term storage and eventual demilitarization. The initial phase of Operation Red Hat involved the movement of chemical munitions from a depot storage site to Tengan Pier, eight miles away, and required 1,332 trailers in 148 convoys. The second phase of the operation moved the munitions to Johnston Atoll. For more information on chemical munitions storage and destruction on Johnston Atoll, go to http://www.cma.army.mil/johnston.aspx . For more on the history of chemical agent detection, go to http://www.ecbc.army.mil/about/history.htm#1920. The entire 1971 film, Operation Red Hat: Men and a Mission, is available at the Internet Archive.

Duration : 0:0:18

Technorati Tags: agent, Airborne, Army, Atoll, Biological, canary, CBRNE, Chemical, defense, detector, DHS, dod, hat, hazard, hazardous, hazwoper, Homeland, hygiene, industrial, Japan, Johnston, materials, monitor, munitions, Nerve, NIEHS, NIOSH, Okinawa, operation, OSHA, Rabbit, red, sarin, security, toxic, Umatilla

In July of 1969, 23 U.S. servicemen and one U.S. civilian stationed in Okinawa, Japan, were hospitalized after being exposed to low levels of the nerve agent sarin while repainting the military depot buildings. The weapons had been kept secret from Japan, sparking a furor in that country, an international incident and the creation of Operation Red Hat. The army had announced that the chemical weapons on Okinawa would be moved to Umatilla Army Depot in Oregon. This triggered protest by workers on the base and members of surrounding communities. This also triggered a series of lawsuits in the US that attracted the concern of Congress. The next year, Public Law 91-672 was enacted, which prohibited the army from moving the weapons from Okinawa to anywhere on the U.S. mainland. Operation Red Hat then moved the stockpile on Okinawa to Johnston Atoll, a small U.S. island in the South Pacific, for long-term storage and eventual destruction. The worker and community protest here were a forerunner to the modern environmental justice movement in the US and around the world. Environmental justice is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies. The Environmental Justice Resource Center (EJRC) at Clark Atlanta University (http://www.ejrc.cau.edu/ ) was formed in 1994 to serve as a research, policy, and information clearinghouse on issues related to environmental justice, race and the environment, civil rights and human rights, facility siting, land use planning, brownfields, transportation equity, suburban sprawl and smart growth, energy, global climate change, and climate justice. The overall goal of the center is to assist, support, train, and educate people of color students, professionals, and grassroots community leaders with the goal of facilitating their inclusion into the mainstream of decision-making. The center is multi-disciplinary in its focus and approach. It serves as a bridge among the social and behavioral sciences, health professionals, natural and physical sciences, engineering, management, and legal disciplines to prevent and solve environmental and health problems. The center’s programs build on the work that it staff has been engaged in for over two decades. Today The Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program (CSEPP) (http://www.fema.gov/about/divisions/thd_csepp.shtm#0 ), a partnership between the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Department of the Army, provides emergency preparedness assistance and resources to communities surrounding the Army’s chemical warfare agent stockpiles. CSEPP’s mission is to “enhance existing local, installation, tribal, State, and Federal capabilities to protect the health and safety of the public, work force, and environment from the effects of a chemical accident or incident involving the U.S. Army chemical stockpile. ” CSEPP’s mission aligns with FEMA and Army goals by protecting people who live and work near one of the six Army chemical depots in the unlikely event of a chemical accident or incident. The Army is fulfilling its mission to eliminate aging chemical munitions and warfare materials. This objective is in accordance with international treaties and national policy. CSEPP will remain in place until the stockpiles are completely destroyed. This is clipped from the 1971 US Army film, Operation Red Hat: Men and a Mission. The entire film is available at the Internet Archive.

Duration : 0:2:42

Technorati Tags: 91-672, agent, Alabama, Anniston, arkansas, Army, arsenal, atlanta, Atoll, blue, Bluff, Bullard, Center, Chemical, clark, colorado, community, Depot, dod, EJRC, emergency, environmental, EPA, fema, gas, grass, hat, Illinois, Indiana, Japan, Johnston, justice, Kentucky, Labor, Law, Nerve, Newport, NIEHS, NIOSH, Okinawa, operation, oregon, OSHA, Pine, PREPAREDNESS, protect, public, Pueblo, red, Resource, response, sarin, stockpile, strike, Umatilla, Union, university, Utah, warfare, Washington, worker

Biological weapons may expose workers to bacteria, viruses, or toxins as fine airborne particles. Decontamination by removing clothes and flushing or showering with water is the most expedient and the most practical method. Disrobing and showering meets all the purposes and principles of decontamination. Wetting down psersonnel as they start to disrobe speeds up the decontamination process and is recommended for decontaminating biological or radiological casualties. For more information on protections against biological agents, go to the NIOSH website http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2009-132/ . This is clipped from the 1953 Navy training film, Biological Warfare Defense which covers the means of dispersal of biological agents, protective measures, effects on personnel, treatment of personnel and decontamination of affected areas. The entire film is available at the US National Archive in College Park, Maryland.

Duration : 0:1:14

Technorati Tags: Airborne, anthrax, attack, bacteria, bioagent, Biological, biowarfare, BW, CBRNE, defense, DHS, disease, dod, dose, entry, EPA, exposure, health, Homeland, hygiene, industrial, infectious, inhalation, microbe, Navy, NIOSH, OSHA, Route, safety, security, terrorism, transmission, virus, War, warfare, WMD

This clip shows the post-emergency response to this radiation accident. This clip is taken from the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission’s (AEC) film, SL-1 The Accident: Phases I and II. It describes, using real and recreated film footage, the events surrounding this 1961 nuclear accident, the initial emergency response and the early response to protect the public and the environment. Three workers were killed in this incident, the first worker fatalities associated with nuclear power. For more information on the Sl-1 and this tragic incident, link to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SL-1 . The entire 40 minute film is available for viewing and downloading at the Internet Archives.

Duration : 0:3:5

Technorati Tags: AEC, atomic, EPA, hazwoper, hygiene, industrial, nuclear, OSHA, radiation, reactor, safety, SL1

Insect pest control using synthetic chemicals began during World War II. However, problems did develop and have become more evident with increasing research. Effects on nontarget organisms, chemical residues, arthropod resistance to chemicals, high cost, and the temporary nature of treatments became of increasing concern beginning in the late 1940s. DDT, perceived to be one of the most notorious of the offending chemistries, came into use in the early 1940s. The first case of an insect species resistant to the material—the housefly was reported in 1946. Twelve insect species were reported resistant to synthetic insecticides in 1948. Scientist now reported that more than 500 pest species have resistance to conventional insecticides. The catalyst for ecological awareness was Rachel Carsons Silent Spring (1962). Carson, a scientist talented in literary expression, electrified a slowly growing science-dominated environmental movement. Congress enacted the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) in 1947 to replace a 1910 Act. The new Act was introduced soon after discovery of organic insecticides. On April 22, 1970 the first Earth Day celebration brought 20 million Americans out into the spring sunshine for peaceful demonstrations in favor of environmental reform. Senator Gaylord Nelson (D-Wis.) and Congressman Paul McCloskey (R-Calif.) gave bipartisan sponsorship to the event, but its popularity far surpassed their wildest expectations. The first Earth Day lives in popular memory to this day as a joyous and life-affirming moment in American history. The theatrical flair of some of the demonstrators had a great deal to do with its success. ). The phenomenal success of Earth Day gave greater priority than ever to environmental issues. In December 1970 the Environmental Protection Agency was established and inherited administration of FIFRA for registration of pesticides and establishment of pesticide residue tolerances. For more information on the use of pesticides, go to http://www.beyondpesticides.org/index.html . This is clipped from the 1954 industrial film, 500,000 to 1 from the Sinclair Refining Company. The film promoted the insecticides manufactured by Sinclair and explained how greatly outnumbered, humans are in continual war with insects and must fight back. 500,000 to 1 shows how pests are controlled by quarantine as well as through chemical, mechanical, and biological weapons. The entire film is available at the Internet Archive at www.archive.org/details/500000_to_one .

Duration : 0:4:25

Technorati Tags: active, agent, cancer, Carson, Chemical, Chemistry, chronic, cleanup, contamination, day, DDT, earth, EPA, farm, FIFRA, hazardous, health, hygiene, industrial, ingredient, Insect, insecticide, integrated, LD50, Management, material, MSDS, NIEHS, NIOSH, OSHA, pest, pesticide, poison, Rachel, reproductive, safety, Silent, Spring, superfund, toxic, waste, worker

Environmental cleanup of radiation after the SL-1 nuclear reactor accident in 1961. Before Three Mile Island and Chernobyl, there was the SL-1 nuclear accident, the only fatal reactor accident in the United States. This clip is taken from the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission’s (AEC) film, SL-1 The Accident: Phases I and II. It describes, using real and recreated film footage, the events surrounding this 1961 nuclear accident, the initial emergency response and the early response to protect the public and the environment. Three workers were killed in this incident, the first worker fatalities associated with nuclear power. For more information on the Sl-1 and this tragic incident, link to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SL-1 . The entire 40 minute film is available for viewing and downloading at the Internet Archives.

Duration : 0:0:48

Technorati Tags: AEC, cleanup, contamination, DOE, environmental, EPA, hazardous, hazmat, hazwoper, materia, nuclear, OSHA, radiation, superfund, waste

This clip shows the initial emergency response to this nuclear reactor accident. Before Three Mile Island and Chernobyl, there was the 1961 SL-1 nuclear accident, the only fatal reactor accident in the United States. This clip is taken from the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission’s (AEC) film, SL-1 The Accident: Phases I and II. It describes, using real and recreated film footage, the events surrounding this 1961 nuclear accident, the initial emergency response and the early response to protect the public and the environment. Three workers were killed in this incident, the first worker fatalities associated with nuclear power. For more information on the Sl-1 and this tragic incident, link to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SL-1 . The entire 40 minute film is available for viewing and downloading at the Internet Archives.

Duration : 0:7:50

Technorati Tags: accident, AEC, atomic, DOE, EPA, first, hazwoper, hygiene, Idaho, industrial, nuclear, OSHA, radiation, responder, safety

This clip shows the post-emergency response to this radiation accident to recover bodies of the two workers killed. This clip is taken from the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission’s (AEC) film, SL-1 The Accident: Phases I and II. It describes, using real and recreated film footage, the events surrounding this 1961 nuclear accident, the initial emergency response and the early response to protect the public and the environment. Three workers were killed in this incident, the first worker fatalities associated with nuclear power. For more information on the Sl-1 and this tragic incident, link to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SL-1 . The entire 40 minute film is available for viewing and downloading at the Internet Archives.

Duration : 0:5:18

Technorati Tags: accident, AEC, atomic, Command, EPA, first, hazwoper, incident, nuclear, OSHA, radiation, reactor, responder, safety