Introduction

The possible use of war gases as agents of terrorism has been covered many times over.¹ Furthermore, we are of the opinion that, if a terrorist were to launch an attack, it would most likely not involve the agents classically considered as war gases. We believe this to be the case because these agents are not easy to disseminate in a way that would produce a great effect. It is more likely that a terrorist would use conventional explosives to produce great damage by causing a release of industrial chemicals that could have far greater effect, both in the number of casualties and the degree of injury produced. This conclusion is based on two facts, namely that New Jersey is the most densely populated state in the country, and within its geographical borders are many companies dealing with the most toxic substances produced by man. This combination results in most New Jerseyans living and/or working within a 3–5 mile radius of a chemical plant that could become a target. These plants either produce or use vast amounts of toxic substances. If an accident or terrorist attack occurred at one of these plants, the effects could be staggering.

Questions about identification, care, and treatment can be answered by the New Jersey Poison Information and Education System.(NJPIES) at 1-800-222-1222.
Under the New Jersey Toxic Catastrophe Prevention Act (TCPA), and regulation, NJAC 7:31, companies that possess over a threshold quantity of certain chemicals are required to give public information about these substances and develop guidelines to respond to a catastrophic release. The list of chemicals and threshold levels are available on the internet.² The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) lists, as the ten chemicals likely to be found in most locations, ammonia, chlorine, difluoroethane, hydrogen chloride, hydrogen fluoride, hydrogen sulfide, ozone, pentane, toluene diisocyanate, and vinyl acetate monomer. This list became the basis for this report.