Chemical Weapons When most people consider the threat from weapons of mass destruction, the nuclear bomb is likely to come to mind. While nuclear weapons certainly pose a huge risk to our nation and modern world, they are costly to develop and mostly out of reach from terrorist organizations. Chemical weapons, on the other hand, are much more available worldwide and can often be created using commercially available materials. Beginning in 490 B.C, when the Spartans burned pitch and sulphur together to create a toxic gas, chemical weapons have been used to wage war around the world. (Reaching Critical Will, 2008). While they were relatively simple in those days, modern technology has spawned a great number of different weapons with much more lethal effects. Most of the commonly used weapons of today can be broken down into three groups depending on how they affect the body. These include nerve agents, blister agents, and choking agents. Out of these three, nerve agents are usually the most deadly because of how effectively they interrupt the nervous system. While there are many varieties, the most deadly and popular nerve agent is known as sarin gas. At room temperature, it is a clear, colorless liquid with a boiling point of 158 degrees C. Despite its high boiling point, sarin is unstable in liquid form and will readily vaporize at room temperature producing a highly toxic gas (Judson, 2004, p.56). Once converted into a gas, it can kill in a matter of minutes at high doses by interrupting the body’s control of the muscles needed for breathing (Sarin Fact Sheet, 2008). This is achieved by inhibiting the enzyme acetylcholinesterase, an important chemical needed for muscle contraction. The role of this enzyme is to allow a musc... ... middle of paper ... ...rd: C4H8Cl2S, nitrogen mustard: C5H11Cl2N, phosgene oxime: CHCl2NO, and lewisite: C2H2AsCl3. Protection from them would include a sealed skin protection suit and respiratory protection in the form of a gas mask (Chemical Weapon, 2009). Today the use and manufacture of chemical weapons has been banned around the world, but one final hurdle still remains. Many countries, including the United States and Russia, still have thousands of tons of these weapons stockpiled from previous wars. Congress finally took action in 1986 requiring our country’s weapons to be destroyed due to the “concern that the probabilities of leaking and of a serious accident increase as the stockpile ages” (Greenberg, 2003). Many nations have now followed our example and signed treaties pledging to eliminate their arsenal, in hope that one day the world will finally be rid of chemical weapons.
History has proven the use of chemical weapons ranging back for decades. From the Greeks in ancient Europe using Greek fire to South American tribes using a form of tear gas made of grounded up hot chili peppers to scare away enemy tribes. As well as dipping the tips of spear heads with a poisonous toxin. Poisonous toxins used from live reptiles like frogs and venom from the snakes found from whichever region had enough potency venom to exterminate. The past has proven, that in order for Armies to survive and win, it relied on out smarting the enemy. New technologies and the evolution of weaponry were left to the brightest minds from those eras to develop.
Miltner, A. L. (2012). Technical Escort: Countering WMD for 70 Years. Army Chemical Review, 41-44. Retrieved from http://chemical.epubxp.com/i/98296/45
The two chemical weapons that were used were: nerve agent and mustard gas. Nerve agent has two main classes that are Class G and Class V. Class V is more new, however less fatal. The specific nerve agent used by the Iraqis is Cyclosarin. Cyclosarin is an extremely toxic substance used as a chemical weapon, which is a member of Class G. Cyclosarin is the most dangerous gas out of both classes. It is known to have a sweet smell and is also flammable unlike other nerve gases. Mustard gas on the other hand is yellow and smells like garlic. Both gases cause death in minutes and have long lasting effects. These can include diseases and other horrible problems. Many of these diseases cannot be cured, for the cells have been damaged and cannot be repaired.
"Chemical Warfare Agents - Resources on the health effects from chemical weapons, emergency response & treatment, counterterrorism, and emergency preparedness.au.af." Specialized Information Services - Reliable information on toxicology, environmental health, chemistry, HIV/AIDS, and minority health. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 May 2010.
We, as CBRN soldiers, can trace our corps roots back to World War I, where chemical agents were widely used by both the allied and German forces. One chemical used was called mustard gas (H). Mustard gas is a type of blister agent that causes large blister (vesicles) on the skin, lungs and eyes of those exposed to it. According to Heller (1984), when mustard gas was introduced on the battlefield soldiers were unaware that they were even exposed. Unlike other chemicals used at that time (Chlorine or Phosgene) the effects of mustard gas were not readily apparent. According to Namazi, Niknahad, & Razmkhah (2009), those exposed did not feel the effects for 4-8 hours after exposure causing severe injuries. According to Heller (1984), the Germans were the first to use mustard gas in 1917 on British soldiers. When the British soldiers observed the gas shells going off they did not see or smell any gas; therefore, believed that the Germans were trying to trick them. It was not until several hours later did they start complaining that their eyes, throats and lungs hurt. By the time that the United States entered World War I we did not have any protection against the chemicals that were being used on the front lines. According to Heller (1984), “On 6 April 1917, when the U.S. declared war on Germany, the army not only lacked defensive equipment for chemical warfare, but also had no concrete plans to develop or manufacture gas masks or any other defensive equipment” ( pg.38). While the history of our corps is very interesting, I will show the effects mustard gas has on unprotected soldiers and how the first protective equipment has changed to what we are equipped with today.
Lyell, Lord. "CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS:THE POOR MAN'S BOMB." North Atlantic Assembly AN 255 STC(96) 10. North Atlantic Assembly, 04 Oct. 1996. Web. 26 May 2014.
The first Nerve Agents were discovered prior to WWI. Tabun was created in the 1935 by German Scientist. In the early 1950s the United States discovered and began to weaponize a new more potent series of Nerve Agents they classified as G Agents. Great Britain linked up with the United States to share a nerve agent that was derived by mistake from an insecticide and would later be known as VX. VX (O-ethyl S-[2-diisoproylaminoethyl] methylphsophonothioate), was the most lethal of all. From the LD50 concept, VX has a LD of 30. The Emergency Response Guide of today classifies VX as TIH a Toxic Inhalation Hazard. This agent whether used as a weapon or not, requires that you approach with extreme caution. If it is used as a weapon it will have an initial isolation and protective action distances as outlined in the ERG. It states that you should isolate the spill in all directions a minimum of 30m for a small spill and 60m for larger spills. Keep in mind, there is enough VX stored throughout the Continental United States to kill every human on the planet. I wouldn’t tak...
Fries, A. A., & West, C. J. (1921). Chemical warfare,. New York [etc.: McGraw-Hill book company, inc..
Poison gas was perhaps the most feared weapon out of all. Created to overcome the long stalemate style of trench warfare, its purpose was to draw out soldiers hiding in the trenches. One side would throw the poison gas into the enemy trenches and they would either wait for their enemy to come out into open fire or perish in the trenches. The first poison gas used in battle was chlorine at the start of the Second Battle of Ypres on April 22, 1915 by the Germans. Shortly after, followed the phosgene. The effects of these gases were ghastly. Chlorine was the most deadly as "within seconds of inhaling its vapor, it destroys the victim's respiratory organs, bringing on choking attacks" (Duffy). Phosgene had similar effects, except the fact that the effects started kicking in after 48 hours of inhalation. In September 1917, the Germans introduced the mustard gas or Yperite which was contained in artillery shells against the Russians at Riga. Those exposed t...
Chemical warfare is the use of chemical agents to injure, incapacitate, or kill enemy combatants. First seen during World War I (WWI), the devastating effects of widespread chemical warfare were eventually deemed inhumane by an international consensus and chemical agents were subsequently banned from use. Still, despite the tendency of the modern warrior to overlook antiquated tactics, the threat of chemical agents in the theater of war cannot be entirely discounted by today's Soldier. By analyzing the application, evolution, and overall legacy of chemical weapons in the Great War we can work to minimize the danger they pose in current conflicts and those of the near future. For it is only by understanding the past that we can understand the present and shape tomorrow.
To begin, during World War one Germans first developed poisonous gas and brought them into war by 1915. Chlorine was the first gas brought into trench warfare as a grenade-like projectile. In the beginning of poisonous gas usage, soldiers didn’t know that the poisonous gas existed so the gas cloud unknowingly forming put soldiers into fear and would cause a few casualties. Soon after, France developed phosgene gases that is 18 times more powerful than chlorine gas. In the first appearance of phosgene gas, which was at Ypres, soldiers would get blinded. Germans further developed another gas, mustard gas. Mustard gas was the most brutal and more developed. It was produced in 75 or 105 shells rather than the regular grenade-like projectiles. Mustard gas caused painful blisters internally and externally, burns skin and more. The introduction to mustard gas brought the most disabled soldiers, deaths, terror and overall brought emotional and physical pain to those affected.
By 1917, World War I was the most brutal conflict that had ever been seen on the world stage. It was no longer a war that only involved the European powers, but also countries from all over the world including the United States. During the war, the total number of casualties reached over 37 million and over eight million lives were lost (“WWI Casualty and Death Tables” 1). The extremely high number of casualties was mostly caused by new developments in warfare technology. One of the most well remembered weapons of World War I was mustard gas. Mustard gas caused the soldiers’ skin and internal organs to blister and could be fatal, but could take anywhere from a week to an entire month to claim the lives of its victims from the inside out. Mustard gas has gone down in history as one of the most dreaded elements of the war. This horrific example of chemical weaponry is just one of the numerous amounts of new warfare technology used during the First World War, including other types of chemical weapons, machine guns, bombing techniques, airplanes, submarines and radio.
Chemical weapons have been used throughout the world dating back to 430 BC, when they were used against the Spartans in the Peloponnesian War. Although they were not nearly as harmful as they are now, they still had devastating effects. Very little good has ever come from the use of chemical ...
The use of chemicals in weapons dates back thousands of years, from poison arrows to poisonous fumes. However chemical warfare took a new approach during World War I. The first large scale attack was chlorine in april 1915. World War II brought on a entire new spectrum of chemical weapons and many countries obtained large stockpiles.1There are four different categories in which chemical weapons are organized based on what the effects are. The first category is blister agents which cause blistering of the skin. The second category is choking agents which cause the airway passages in the victim's throat to close resulting in death. The third category is nerve agents which causes damages to the victims nerves. The most recent uses of chemical weapons was on august 21, 2013 in Damascus ,Syria which resulted in numerous casualties.2
With the use of chemical weapons will come new diseases and sicknesses that the world will not have an antidote or cure. “Not all chemical weapons kill, many of them cause sickness and pain to immobilize the victims.” According to ThinkQuest, in some cases there is bacteria in chemical weapons to create a reaction. These bacteria could spread and would cause more harm than good. Some of these new viruses will not have cures and could cause genetic mutations, which then would be passed on to offspring spreading it even farther.