Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Possible:
In the context of the threat evaluation process, a water contamination
threat is characterized as possible if the circumstances of the threat warn-
ing appear to have provided an opportunity for contamination.
Potassium iodide:
A U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved nonpre-
scription drug for use as a blocking agent to prevent the thyroid gland from
absorbing radioactive iodine.
Presumptive results:
Results of chemical and/or biological field testing that need
to be confirmed by further lab analysis. Typically used in reference to the
analysis of pathogens.
Psychopath:
A person suffering from chronic mental disorder with abnormal or
violent social behavior; an unstable and aggressive person.
Psychopathology:
The study of psychological and behavioral dysfunction occurring
in mental disorder or in social disorganization.
Psychopathy:
A mental disorder, especially an extreme mental disorder marked
usually by egocentric and antisocial activity.
Psychotic:
Of, relating to, or affected with psychosis, which is a fundamental mental
derangement (e.g., schizophrenia) characterized by defective or lost contact
with reality.
Rapid field testing:
Technology used for analysis of water during site characteriza-
tion in an attempt to tentatively identify contaminants or unusual water
quality.
Red teaming:
A group exercise to imagine all possible terrorist attack scenarios
against the chemical infrastructure and their consequences.
Retentate:
In ultrafiltration, the retentate is the solution that contains the particles
that do not pass through the membrane filter. The retentate is also called
the
concentrate
.
Ricin:
A stable toxin easily made from the mash that remains after processing castor
beans. At one time, it was used as an oral laxative (castor oil). Castor oil
causes diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, internal bleeding,
liver and kidney failure, and circulatory failure. There is no antidote.
Salmonella
:
A Gram-negative bacillus, a germ of the
Salmonella
genus. Infection
with this bacteria may involve only the intestinal tract or may be spread
from the intestines to the bloodstream and then to other sites in the body.
Symptoms of
Salmonella
enteritis include diarrhea, nausea, fever, abdomi-
nal pain, and fever. Dehydration resulting from the diarrhea can cause
death, and the disease could cause meningitis or septicemia. The incubation
period is between 8 and 48 hours, while the acute period of the illness can
continue for 1 to 2 weeks.
Sarin:
A colorless, odorless gas. With a lethal dose of 0.5 mg (a pinprick-sized
droplet), it is 26 times more deadly than cyanide gas. Because the vapor
is heavier than air, it hovers close to the ground. Sarin degrades quickly in
humid weather, but its life expectancy increases as the temperature rises,
regardless of how humid it is.
Sentinel laboratory:
A Laboratory Response Network (LRN) lab that reports
unusual results that might indicate a possible outbreak and refers specimens
that may contain select biological agents in reference labs within the LRN.
