Andrew Schneider'sColdtruth – HomeInformationPrevious investigationsSitemapWhat is Cold Truth?About the writersInformationAgricultureAsbestosAsbestosCDCChildrenConsumer InformationCorporate WrongdoingDiacetylDiacetylDisaster responseE-cigsE. ColiEmerging Health ThreatsEnvironmental HealthEPAFDAFlavoringFood AdditivesFood HazardsFood LabelingFood PoisoningFood professionalsFood researchFood SafetyGlobal Health IssuesGMOGovernment RegulationHealth careHistoryHoney LaunderingLabelingMeatNanotechnologyNanotechnologyNuclear accidentsNuclear industryOrganicsOSHAPathogensPesticidesPesticidesPublic HealthPublic Health LegislationRadiationRandom observationsRisks to ChildrenSalmonellaSeafoodSustainable FoodUncategorizedUSDAWaterWorker SafetyWR GraceInformationFood and Water WatchHealth & Environment BlogMarler BlogSwitchboardThe Coal TattooThe Pump HandleType Like the WindArchivesFebruary 2013 (2)January 2013 (2)July 2012 (5)May 2012 (2)January 2012 (4)December 2011 (2)November 2011 (1)August 2011 (2)July 2011 (1)June 2011 (1)May 2011 (2)April 2011 (5)March 2011 (8)February 2011 (1)January 2011 (5)December 2010 (3)November 2010 (3)September 2010 (5)August 2010 (1)July 2010 (1)June 2010 (1)May 2010 (7)April 2010 (5)March 2010 (3)February 2010 (2)January 2010 (1)December 2009 (5)November 2009 (11)October 2009 (19)September 2009 (29)August 2009 (25)July 2009 (20)June 2009 (20)May 2009 (26)April 2009 (26)March 2009 (20)February 2009 (14)January 2009 (18)December 2008 (1)November 2008 (3)October 2008 (1)September 2008 (8)August 2008 (13)July 2008 (13)June 2008 (12)
May 2008 (16)
April 2008 (13)
March 2008 (26)
February 2008 (37)
New antidote for cyanide can quickly save victims of a terrorist attack or industrial accident.
by Andrew Schneider on February 12, 2013
I’ve got three good friends who work for Homeland Security and two other federal agencies. All earn their government-green paychecks trying to protect the citizenry from the worst that terrorists, extremists or saboteurs can inflict upon us.
Studying all the ways to quickly kill a lot of people takes its toll on those who anguish over defending the innocent from all the lethal agents from which to choose. They tell me that it’s not just the new designs for weapons of mass destruction – like dirty bombs or nanotech delivery systems – that steal their sleep. Methods centuries old still worry them greatly.
An FBI WMD response team
Take cyanide for example, a naturally occurring chemical first identified as a poison in 1782.
In 1870, during the Franco-Prussian War, Napoleon urged his troops to dip their bayonet tips in cyanide before battle.
Hydrogen cyanide gas poisoned World War I battlefields, and in the next war was used to kill millions in Nazi death camps.
A library can be filled with novels where “the scent of bitter almond” led Agatha Christie and other murder mystery writers to conclude that a death was not from natural causes.
In Jonestown, Guyana, in 1978