Chemical Warfare What is Chemical Warfare Chemical Warfare

Chemical Warfare

What is Chemical Warfare? Chemical Warfare (CW) involves using the toxic properties of chemical substances as weapons

Brief Chemical Warfare History • Ancient Times – Poisoned spears and arrows – Arsenical smokes used by Chinese in 1000 BC – Spartans used mixture of wood, pitch, and sulfur to incapacitate Athenians during Peloponnesian war (first recorded use of gas warfare) Oldest archeological evidence

Brief Chemical Warfare History • Early Modern Era – 1672 Christoph Bernhard von Galen attempts siege of the city of Groningen (Netherlands) – Uses explosives and incendiary devices filled with Deadly Nightshade (plant that emits toxins that cause delirium and hallucinations) – 1675, French and Holy Roman Empire concluded Strasbourg Agreement…article within bans the use of “perfidious and odious” toxic devices

Brief Chemical Warfare History • Industrial Era – Lyon Playfair proposed the industrial manufacture of cyanide artillery shells for use during the Crimean War (1854) “It is considered a legitimate mode of warfare to fill shells with molten metal which scatters among the enemy, and produced the most frightful modes of death. Why a poisonous vapor which would kill men without suffering is to be considered illegitimate warfare is incomprehensible. War is destruction, and the more destructive it can be made with the least suffering the sooner will be ended that barbarous method of protecting national rights. No doubt in time chemistry will be used to lessen the suffering of combatants, and even of criminals condemned to death. ”

Brief Chemical Warfare History • World War I, World War II, and Beyond – 1914 – 1918: popular chemical weapons include chlorine and mustard gas. • Estimates 90, 000 deaths resulted – 1925: Geneva protocol makes it illegal to employ chemical or biological weapons (did not ban production/stockpiling) – 1935: Italian army uses mustard gas during invasion of Ethiopia

Brief Chemical Warfare History • World War I, World War II, and Beyond – 1937 – 1945 (Sino-Japanese War): Japan uses chemical weapons (cyanide and mustard gas) on Chinese targets – World War II: No use of chemical warfare by Germany or allies (both possessed substantial amounts) – Cold War: Enormous stockpiles but no deployment (total volume held by US and Soviet Union was enough to destroy much of human and animal life)

Brief Chemical Warfare History • World War I, World War II, and Beyond – 1980 – 1988 (Iran-Iraq War): Iraq uses nerve agents (sarin and tabun) against Iran – 1988 (Halabja massacre): 3, 200 – 5, 000 Kurds die from sarin and mustard gas deployed by Iraqi government (under control of Saddam Hussein) – 1995 (Tokyo subway attacks): 1, 000 people affected and 12 die when Japanese Aum Shinrikyo cult deploys homemade sarin

Brief Chemical Warfare History • World War I, World War II, and Beyond – 1997 (Chemical Weapons Convention): CWC aims to achieve world free from chemical weapons. 189 member states signed and agree to destroy stockpiled weapons. Syria, Angola, Egypt, North Korea, and South Sudan have not signed – 2013: US has evidence sarin was used in Damascus suburb (1, 400 deaths)

Types of Chemical Warfare • Blister agents – causes severe skin and eye irritation and can cause severe chemical burns – Phosgene oxime – Lewisite – Sulfur Mustard (mustard gas) – Nitrogen Mustard (similar to mustard gas)

Types of Chemical Warfare • Nerve agents – phosphorus-containing chemicals that leads to contraction of pupils, profuse salivation, convulsions, involuntary urination and defecation, and eventual detah by asphyxiation – Tabun – Sarin – Soman – Cyclosarin – VX

Types of Chemical Warfare • Blood agents – absorbed into the blood, fast acting, and potentially lethal – Cyanogen chloride – Hydrogen cyanide

Types of Chemical Warfare • Pulmonary agents – “choking agent”; designed to impede the victim’s ability to breathe. Causes build up of fluids in lungs and leads to suffocation. Irritable to eyes, skin, and throat (blurred vision, severe burns, vomiting, coughing) – Chloropicrin – Phosgene – Diphosgene – Chlorine

Gas Masks • 3 common types of filters: –Particle filters –Chemical absorption –Chemical reaction to neutralize chemical (Na 2 S 2 O 3)

COCl 2

C 2 H 2 As. Cl 3

Cl 3 CNO 2

C 4 H 8 Cl 2 S https: //youtu. be/ROl. VT 45 r. A 5 w? t=692