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Chemical agents are gaseous, liquid or solid substances which can be used for their direct toxic effects on humans, animals and plants.
Any toxic chemical can potentially be used in an attack, however the risk is mostly present for those with high toxicity (minimal lethal doses). Chemical weapons (known as CBRNe) can have an incapacitating effect on humans and even, in some cases, be fatal.
The main chemical agents of the CBRNe threat are neurotoxic organophosphorus (soman, sarin, tabun, VX) or vesicants (lewisite, yperite), followed by gaseous agents such as phosgene or hydrocyanic acid.
Two categories of chemical agents:
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[ap_tab title=”Chemical Weapons”]They were developed with a military purpose, to cause disorganization and major mortality in the opposing ranks. The collapse of the former USSR has been able to feed parallel markets, but the production of CBRNe chemical agents by competent chemists is also possible.[/ap_tab]
[ap_tab title=”Industrial products “]They are in the form of fixed storage or tanks / transport containers (road, rail). They are divided into different classes: those with respiratory toxicity (chlorine, phosgene …) and those with systemic toxicity (hydrocyanic acid, …). Certain chemicals such as thallium, cyanide or mercury salts could be used in particular by food.[/ap_tab]
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Classification of CBRNe chemical weapons
Depending on the application:
Neutralizing agents – They quickly cause a disability that does not extend beyond exposure. In the context of a terrorist threat, they could be used for disorganization.
Disabling agents – Temporarily cause a mental or physical illness or disability that exceeds the exposure period. They can be used by terrorists.
The lethal agents – They cause death when the man is exposed to it in military or terrorist operations.
Depending on the mode of action:
Asphyxiating or Suffocating Gases – These are highly volatile liquids that, when inhaled as gases, attack the alveolar mucosa (chlorine and phosgene). They are not often used.
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[ap_tab title=”Viscants”]These are oily liquids that cause burns on the skin. The best known is yperite (mustard gas). Synthesized in 1822, yperite was used for the first time as toxic war-gas in July 1917 in Ypres in Belgium, which gave it its name of yperite. Colorless, odorless in the liquid state, it becomes gaseous when added to solvents. It can give off a smell of garlic or mustard and causes blisters on the skin, eyes and lungs. It can be responsible for blindness or cancer. Lewisite is also among the vesicants.[/ap_tab]
[ap_tab title = “Hemotoxic”]These are blood toxins that enter the body through the respiratory tract and disrupt the use of oxygen in the tissues (acid cyanhydric chloride, cyanogen chloride).[/ap_tab]
[ap_tab title=”Organophosphate neurotoxic agents (inactive agents)”]It is the last known and most formidable family. These agents are colorless, odorless, tasteless, more or less viscous and volatile. They can be absorbed by inhalation and dermal. They act on the nervous system and disrupt the vital functions of the body: obscuration of vision, difficulty breathing, abundant sweating, vomiting, mental confusion and finally death. A simple absorption through the skin for one to two minutes can result in death.
Main neurotoxicants:
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[ap_li] Tabun – Discovered in 1937 by Gerhard Schader in Germany, tabun and was first produced industrially in 1942. The tabun was used by Iraq during the Iran-Iraq war. When it is pure, the tabun is a colorless liquid with a fruity odor [/ap_li]
[ap_li] Sarin – Discovered in Germany in 1939, sarin was used during the Second World War and during the war between Iraq and Iran. It is a colorless, non-persistent liquid, which emits no odor when vaporized. The steam is colorless. It evaporates 36 times faster than tabun and can be made more persistent by the addition of certain oils or petroleum products. Symptoms include nausea, coughing, diarrhea, breathing difficulties, vomiting, muscle weakness, convulsions and death by choking in ten minutes. [/ap_li]
[ap_li] VX – This is an “improved” version of the sarin. The symptoms and the mode of absorption are the same as for sarin but it can spread in the air and in the water and the fatal dose is 10 milligrams compared to 100 for the sarin [/ap_li]
[ap_li] Soman – Discovered in 1944, it was never used in combat, but after the Second World War, the Soman was produced in large quantities by the Soviet Union. The soman is colorless when it is pure, but brown-yellow when it is produced industrially. This liquid substance has a fruity odor by vaporizing, but the industrial product contains many impurities, which gives it a strong odor and a very high viscosity. The vapor is colorless. The fatal dose on inhalation is about half that of sarin. It is, moreover, a much more persistent agent than sarin, so that it can remain several days in a particular zone, depending on the atmospheric conditions [/ap_li]
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Biological agents used in weapons directed against individuals, animals and cultures are derived from pathogenic micro-organisms or their toxins. Living microorganisms have self-replicating properties and can therefore act at low concentrations: 1 gram of anthrax could infect and kill more than 1/3 of the US population provided it is properly and effectively disseminated.