137
biological weapons are a mean applicable for military or other warfare purposes,
containing the functional parts necessary for the stabilization and delivery of a
pathogen or its toxin, biological warfare agents are biohazard agents (e.g., Bacillus
anthracis, Yersinia pestis, botulinum toxin) that can be produced and spread by
military or misused by terrorist groups [27]. Biological warfare agents can be legally
produced and manipulated for the purpose of medical or other protective research
(i.e., development of therapies, new drugs, decontamination means etc.). However,
any offensive research programs are banned by the Biological Weapons Convention.
Biological warfare agents that can be weaponized for bioterrorism have several
characteristics: they are easy to procure and inexpensive to acquire, simple to use,
efficient in small amounts, disseminate easily and at great distance, difficult to
detect (invisible, odorless, tasteless), overwhelm medical capabilities and create
panic, perpetrators escape before effects. For example, Bacillus anthracis has 1–7
(up to 60) days incubation, a high fatality rate and according to WHO estimation,
50 kg Anthrax spores spread over 2 km in a major city may cause up to 95,000
deaths [28]. Botulinum toxin is another notable example, with 12 h to 5 days of
incubation, a high fatality rate and lethal at a dose of only 0.001 micrograms/kg
body weight [29].
8.7 Risk Assessment of Health Hazards
In this context, it is of utmost importance to analyze and determine the major risk
factors that influence human mortality, including health hazard agents and specifically, biological warfare agents. An analysis of risk factors helps to delineate priorities and define opportunities for research, prevention, and policy.
Risk analysis activities include:
– risk assessment: the systematic characterization of potential adverse health
effects resulting from human exposure to hazardous agents.
– risk communication: the process of making risk assessment and risk management information comprehensible to lawyers, politicians, judges, business and
labor professionals, environmentalists, and public community groups.
– risk management: the process of weighing policy alternatives and selecting the
most appropriate regulatory action based on the results of risk assessment and
social, economic, and political concerns.
Risk is defined as the probability of an adverse health outcome to occur under
specific exposure conditions. The opposite of “risk” is the concept of “safety”,
which may be interpreted as “without risk” if the probability of risk occurring is
lower than one in a million. As such, performing a risk assessment, one is able to
determine what level of a health hazard agent will produce an adverse effect in one
individual out of one million exposed individuals [30].
8 Risks and Consequences of Hazard Agents to Human Health
biological weapons are a mean applicable for military or other warfare purposes,
containing the functional parts necessary for the stabilization and delivery of a
pathogen or its toxin, biological warfare agents are biohazard agents (e.g., Bacillus
anthracis, Yersinia pestis, botulinum toxin) that can be produced and spread by
military or misused by terrorist groups [27]. Biological warfare agents can be legally
produced and manipulated for the purpose of medical or other protective research
(i.e., development of therapies, new drugs, decontamination means etc.). However,
any offensive research programs are banned by the Biological Weapons Convention.
Biological warfare agents that can be weaponized for bioterrorism have several
characteristics: they are easy to procure and inexpensive to acquire, simple to use,
efficient in small amounts, disseminate easily and at great distance, difficult to
detect (invisible, odorless, tasteless), overwhelm medical capabilities and create
panic, perpetrators escape before effects. For example, Bacillus anthracis has 1–7
(up to 60) days incubation, a high fatality rate and according to WHO estimation,
50 kg Anthrax spores spread over 2 km in a major city may cause up to 95,000
deaths [28]. Botulinum toxin is another notable example, with 12 h to 5 days of
incubation, a high fatality rate and lethal at a dose of only 0.001 micrograms/kg
body weight [29].
8.7 Risk Assessment of Health Hazards
In this context, it is of utmost importance to analyze and determine the major risk
factors that influence human mortality, including health hazard agents and specifically, biological warfare agents. An analysis of risk factors helps to delineate priorities and define opportunities for research, prevention, and policy.
Risk analysis activities include:
– risk assessment: the systematic characterization of potential adverse health
effects resulting from human exposure to hazardous agents.
– risk communication: the process of making risk assessment and risk management information comprehensible to lawyers, politicians, judges, business and
labor professionals, environmentalists, and public community groups.
– risk management: the process of weighing policy alternatives and selecting the
most appropriate regulatory action based on the results of risk assessment and
social, economic, and political concerns.
Risk is defined as the probability of an adverse health outcome to occur under
specific exposure conditions. The opposite of “risk” is the concept of “safety”,
which may be interpreted as “without risk” if the probability of risk occurring is
lower than one in a million. As such, performing a risk assessment, one is able to
determine what level of a health hazard agent will produce an adverse effect in one
individual out of one million exposed individuals [30].
8 Risks and Consequences of Hazard Agents to Human Health