They are in everyday household products like fertilisers, cleaning agents for swimming pools or weed-killers: chemicals such as hydrogen peroxide, acetone or nitrates – so-called precursors. Jihad-motivated terrorists have used these chemicals repeatedly in recent years to manufacture home-made explosives. No laboratory is necessary; they can be manufactured in kitchens, bathrooms or garages. It was explosives like these that were used in the terrorist attacks in London (2005), Paris (2015), Brussels (2016), St. Petersburg (2017) and Manchester (2017) to kill dozens of people.
In 2014, the EU issued a regulation on the marketing and use of precursors. Switzerland, too, wants to regulate the sale of dangerous chemicals in order to avert attacks and prevent our country from becoming a shopping paradise for terrorists.
Last modification 01.02.2021