What is the Difference Between a Chemical and Biological Weapon?
Biological agents are infectious microbes or toxins used to produce illness or death in people, animals, or plants. Biological agents can be dispersed as aerosols or airborne particles. Terrorists may use biological agents to contaminate food or water because they are extremely difficult to detect. Chemical agents kill or incapacitate people, destroy livestock or ravage crops. Some chemical agents are odorless and tasteless and are difficult to detect. They can have an immediate effect (a few seconds to a few minutes) or a delayed effect (several hours to several days). Were a chemical agent attack to occur, authorities would instruct citizens to either seek shelter where they are and seal the premises or evacuate immediately. Exposure to chemical agents can be fatal. Biological agents are organisms or toxins that have illness-producing effects on people, livestock, and crops. Because biological agents cannot necessarily be detected and may take time to grow and cause a disease, it is
Related Questions
- What is terrorism?§ What is the difference between a chemical and biological weapon?§ What do terrorists target?§ How should the public prepare to deal with a terrorist incident?§ What should I do if I receive a bomb threat or if there is a building explosion?
- Did Saddam Hussein develop and maintain mobile labs for the purpose of biological and chemical weapon production?
- Do you believe terriorists prefer chemical weapon or biological weapon?
