How many chemicals are used in chemical warfare?

A chemical weapon agent (CWA) is a chemical substance whose toxic properties are used to kill, injure or incapacitate human beings. About 70 different chemicals have been used or stockpiled as chemical weapon agents during the 20th century. These agents may be in liquid, gas or solid form.

Why are chemical and biological weapons used in warfare?

Both types should be better designated as weapons of terror against civilians and weapons of intimidation for soldiers. Requirements on their transport system differ vastly from those for nuclear warheads.

How is aerodynamic dissemination used in chemical warfare?

Aerodynamic dissemination is the non-explosive delivery of a chemical agent from an aircraft, allowing aerodynamic stress to disseminate the agent. This technique is the most recent major development in chemical agent dissemination, originating in the mid-1960s.

What are the blood agents in chemical warfare?

Blood agents 1 Cyanogen chloride (CK). 2 Hydrogen cyanide (AC). 3 Arsine (SA).

Which is the most lethal chemical warfare agent?

Nerve agents (chemicals of the same family as organophosphorus insecticides) are the most lethal of the classical chemical warfare agents, killing by poisoning the nervous system and disrupting bodily functions. Blister agents (such as mustard gas) burn and blister the skin (causing more casualties than any other agent in the first world war).

What makes a chemical weapon a strategic weapon?

While any toxic compound could be a possible a chemical “weapon”, there is a generally accepted benchmark of lethality that places nerve agents, blood agents, blister agents, and choking agents into a strategic class. Strategic weapons are considered to be those that would be used in warfare by a military force.

How is a nonpersistent deployment of chemical warfare achieved?

To achieve a nonpersistent deployment, the agent is dispersed into very small droplets comparable with the mist produced by an aerosol can. In this form not only the gaseous part of the agent (around 50%) but also the fine aerosol can be inhaled or absorbed through pores in the skin.

Who was responsible for the development of chemical warfare?

Chemical warfare was revolutionized by Nazi Germany’s discovery of the nerve agents tabun (in 1937) and sarin (in 1939) by Gerhard Schrader, a chemist of IG Farben. IG Farben was Germany’s premier poison gas manufacturer during World War II, so the weaponization of these agents cannot be considered accidental.

What are chemical weapons and what are they used for?

Abandoned Chemical Weapons are chemical weapons, including old chemical weapons, abandoned by a State after 1 January 1925 on the territory of another State without the consent of the latter. Inflicting injury mainly on the respiratory tract, choking agents irritate the nose, throat, and especially the lungs.

How does a chemical warfare agent affect the body?

These sensory irritants produce immediate pain to the eyes and irritate mucous membranes (aka lachrymatory agent or lachrymator ). These sensory irritants are also termed sternators or nose irritants. They irritate the mucous membranes to produce congestion, coughing, sneezing, and eventually nausea.