On the night of 26 October 2002, Russian special forces raided the Dubrovka Theater in Moscow, where terrorists were holding several hundred hostages. They had pumped a narcotic aerosol into the hall, aiming to incapacitate the terrorists. But the vapor—composed of two fentanyl derivatives—was so potent that many hostages lapsed into a coma, and 124 of them died. The botched raid marked the debut of a new chemical weapon, one of many that worry experts. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has a list of about 100 chemicals that pose a serious risk of being weaponized, and these have been categorized according to their toxidrome, or the broad set of symptoms they trigger. The potential threats are spurring a search for new countermeasures.

中文翻译：

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等待的武器

2002 年 10 月 26 日晚，俄罗斯特种部队突袭了莫斯科的杜布罗夫卡剧院，恐怖分子在那里劫持了数百名人质。他们向大厅里注入了麻醉气雾剂，旨在使恐怖分子丧失行动能力。但是这种由两种芬太尼衍生物组成的蒸气非常有效，以至于许多人质陷入昏迷，其中 124 人死亡。这次拙劣的突袭标志着一种新化学武器的首次亮相，这是令专家们担忧的众多武器之一。美国国土安全部列出了大约 100 种可能被武器化的严重化学品的清单，这些化学品已根据它​​们的毒理学或它们引发的广泛症状进行分类。潜在威胁促使人们寻找新的对策。