What are nerve substances and why are they dangerous?

Bombs filled with chemical weapons do not have a selective effect, and hundreds and thousands can hit both servicemen and civilians. When individuals are targeted, killers can use nerve agents such as sarin, VX, or “Novice,” produced in Russia a military nerve agent used in the UK in early March against former Russian intelligence agent defector Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.

Фото: Depositphotos

Edition Share America told about what they are and how similar substances work.

What is a nerve substance?

Nerve agents are highly toxic chemical compounds that affect the central nervous system of a person and paralyze its normal functioning. They are fast-acting and, in large doses, can immediately cause a victim to convulsions, respiratory failure or death from cardiac arrest.

Nerve agents may be in gaseous or liquid form and sprayed as an aerosol. They can be filled with bombs, explosives, spray tanks and rockets, and they can even be sacrificed with a hand, as was the case in 2017 during the assassination of Kim Jong Nam, brother of the North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un in a Malaysian airport.

Applying sarin, the Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein killed 1988 thousands of Kurds in 5 year. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is also accused of using sarin in rebel-held territories.

Who invented them

A German civilian scientist in 1930's tried to create a more powerful pesticide and accidentally discovered a nerve agent that can not only kill pests, but also kill animals and people.

During World War II, the German military built a factory for the production of sarin and accumulated the resulting toxic substance, but it was not used in hostilities.

Is it easy to recognize a nerve agent

Recognizing a nerve agent is very difficult. This is usually a clear, colorless liquid that may have no odor or have a faint sweetish odor.

How people can be exposed

They can inhale toxic fumes, the substance can get into the eyes or on the skin. It lingers on the surface of the skin, but it can be washed off.

How nerve substances act

Nerve agents block the work of enzymes that regulate chemical processes in the human body, including those that provide respiration.

With a weak effect, the upper airways are damaged in a person, vomiting occurs, there may be hallucinations, he does not clearly see, he is tormented by chest pains.

Higher doses can cause convulsions, a person can fall into a coma or die.

Infographics: Share America

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, contact with liquid sarin kills a person for 1-10 minutes.

Are there antidotes?

Exist. These are the relaxing muscles of atropine and pralidoxime. In the soldier’s first-aid kit there is always auto injector for the introduction of antidotes. This should be done as quickly as possible: depending on the type of poisonous substance, the victim has a time from several minutes to several hours.

Recall, the former GRU officer Sergey Skripal and his daughter Julia were found unconscious on a bench in Salisbury March 4. They were taken to the hospital in critical condition, they are still in a coma, doctors estimate their condition as consistently severe. The police found that they were poisoned nerve agent. About 20 people were poisoned, including the policeman who first visited the scene and the house of Skripal. On the fact of poisoning a case of attempted murder.

In Russia, Skripal was convicted in 2006 for spying for British intelligence. In 2010, he was exchanged for Russian intelligence agents uncovered in the United States.

After investigating, Britain came to the conclusion that the nerve agent of the new generation of the group called “Rookie” was used for poisoning. Since no country other than Russia had access to this substance, London declared that Russia was most likely responsible for the attempt. In connection with which 17 countries, including the UK and the United States, have decided to expel Russian diplomats for violation of international norms.

Wil Mirzayanov, a former Soviet military chemist living in the United States who was one of the developers of the Novice military substance, said that Skripal and his daughter Yulia who were poisoned with this nerve agent were likely to die, and if they survive, they will remain cripples.

“These people - a man and his daughter - are gone. Even if they survive, they will not recover, ”said Mirzayanov.

According to him, “Novice” can be stored in two completely harmless components that can be individually moved, and then combined into an aerosol.

“Only 10 grams are already a lot. In the summer, just two grams will be enough to kill a 500 man, ”said Mirzayanov.

The beginner's story begins in 1971, when the State Research Institute of Organic Chemistry and Technology began to develop the strongest, unparalleled chemical weapons in the world. And they worked out: at the beginning of the 90, the authors received the Lenin Prize for military chemical weapons.

“The fact is that a nerve agent can lead to the grave not only the victims, but also those who present it, as well as completely strangers who, by accident, suddenly find themselves nearby. So, at our institute, at one time, a cleaning lady was seriously poisoned because she simply inhaled chemical vapors. There was also a medical professor who, through negligence, poisoned himself and only thanks to his deep knowledge survived for several more years after that,” Mirzayanov said.

According to him, the professor's legs first began to be taken away, then cirrhosis of the liver developed, he got a disability and died five years after the poisoning.

The full text of the interview Mirzayanova can be read in our material “Russian developer of the substance that poisoned Skripal who emigrated to the USA spoke about the future of the ex-spy".

Read also on ForumDaily:

“They are not diplomats, but career intelligence officers”: US press about the expulsion of Russians

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The family of Sergey Skripal was torn by scandals: Julia's boyfriend was implicated in them

Disclosed agents and 100 of thousands of dollars in fees: for what they were trying to Squeal

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