Defence against hazardous materials

Abstract

Hazardous materials are matter, substances, mixtures and solutions with harmful characteristics (e. g. toxic, flammable, mutagenic). Normally a distinction is made between the four main categories of chemical agents, contagious agents, radioactive substances and explosives when considering possible protective measures. Technological progress has put mankind and the natural world at greater risk of accidents arising from the industrial use, manufacture or transport of such hazardous materials. There is also the everpresent threat of warlike or terrorist acts. Threat analyses are attaching more and more importance to risks posed to the population by terrorism. © 2009 Springer Berlin Heidelberg.