Approximately 1,500 agents are based in California, he said. He said the state Department of Health Services maintains a laboratory in Richmond that holds two of only three electron microscopes to be found in state labs in the country, along with one of only seven air sampling machines in the world. According to Born, the machine is so sensitive that it can detect a single molecule of a chemical or biological agent in a sample of air. Born primarily talked about chemical and biological weapons and some of the effects they can have, as well as where and how they have been used in the past. Really, he said, the problem is rarely the weapons themselves, which he said Hazmat personnel deal with as part of their daily job.
Biological weapons are natural, including bacteria or viruses.
Chemical weapons are man-made, such as sarin or hydrogen cyanide. He said law enforcement views the smallpox virus as one of the most dangerous because it is highly contagious. In some cases, evading death or injury simply means proper training for law enforcement, generally the first group to respond when a weapon of mass destruction is used, Born said, though sometimes medical personnel become the first group. Though the United States could be facing a continuing terrorist threat, he said, citizens should not be afraid to continue their daily lives, including traveling overseas. I have no qualms about it.