I read the article, “Chemical Warfare: Toxicity of Nerve Agents” in your October (2003:15–22) issue. It amazes me how many articles and how many journals are publishing “terrorism-related” material. There seems to be such a rush on the material that errors are often overlooked. I found some errors in the article as follows:

On page 15, it is written that “…differences in these properties influence an agent’s potential as a biological [hazard].” Chemicals are not alive! Chemical agents are not biological agents.

On page 15, it is also written that VX can persist on the ground for 2 to 6 days. Actually, it can persist for weeks.

On page 18, the authors state that treatment “begins with the rapid removal of the agent through a decontamination process.” This only applies to contamination (liquid on skin or clothing). For an exposure (inhalation), no decontamination is required.

On page 18, the authors...

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