Title: Chemical Weapons of Mass Destruction
1Chemical Weapons of Mass Destruction
- S255 Threats, Violence, and Workplace Safety
- 2nd Eight weeks, Fall Semester 2003
- Guest Lecturer Jessica Cordette, MPH(c)
2A Century of Chemical Warfare
- The use of poison gas in warfare originated
during WWI in the battle of Ypres, April 22, 1915 - 1.3 million casualties, 91,000 fatalities were
attributed to the use of phosgene, chlorine, and
mustard gas - Italy used chemical weapons aggressively against
Ethiopia in 1935-1936. - 15,000 reported chemical casualties mostly from
mustard gas - The Japanese Army used mustard gas, phosgene,
lewisite and other agents indiscriminately in
China from 1937-1945 - Over 900 reported chemical casualties
- Poisonous gases such as factory exhaust fumes and
the infamous Zyklon B were used to kill millions
in the concentration camps of Nazi Germany during
WWII from 1941-1945
3A Century of Chemical WarfareContinued
- Phosgene and mustard bombs killed at least 1,400
people during the Yemeni civil war (1963-67), in
Egypt - Massive chemical weapon assaults were seen during
the Iran-Iraq War (1983-1988) and in the Iraqi
suppression of its Kurdish minority (1987-1988) - On March 17, 1988, Iraq attacked the Kurdish
village of Halabja with suspected nerve agents,
killing hundreds of civilian refugees - The U.S. waged chemical warfare in Southeast Asia
(1961-72) - Riot control agents (similar to tear gas) and
chemical defoliants and herbicides (Agent Orange)
were used extensively
4Classification of Chemical Weapons- By Human
Effects
- Blister Agents
- Choking Agents
- Blood Agents
- Nerve Agents
5Blister Agents
- Intended to cause incapacitation rather than
death - Used extensively during WWI
- Tactic Overload a regions medical facilities
- Examples Lewisite, Mustard Gas
6Choking Agents
- Most common during WWI but have lost much of
their usefulness since the advent of the nerve
agents. - Intended to cause death
- Easily obtained
- Example Phosgene (CG as designated by the
military) is a common industrial chemical with a
moderate lethal dose
7Blood Agents
- Cyanide based compounds are the main components
of the blood agents - Rapid rate of evaporation
- Tactic assassination of an individual since
these agents arent well suited for use on a
large number of people - Example Hydrogen Cyanide (AC)
8Nerve Agents
- Newest trend in chemical weapons
- Original nerve agents were developed by German
scientists during the 1930s as insecticides and
were developed into chemical weapons by the Nazi
military later that decade. - Sarin, Tabun, Soman and other agents have been
the main toxins stockpiled as chemical weapons
9Nerve AgentsContinued
- Nerve agents are hundreds to thousands times more
lethal than blister, choking or blood agents - Most useful to terrorists because only a minute
quantity is necessary to cause a substantial
amount of casualties - In their most effective form, most nerve agents
are more difficult to obtain - VX and Sarin, the most toxic of the nerve agents,
can be synthesized by a moderately competent
organic chemist.
10Close up Chemical Weapons Making Recent News
- Iraq has admitted to manufacturing the chemical
agents mustard gas, VX, sarin and tabun before
the 1991 Gulf War, although much of this has been
destroyed by UNSCOM inspectors. - However, intelligence estimates that 360 tones of
chemical warfare agent remain unaccounted for
and that Iraq could produce mustard gas within
weeks and nerve agents such as VX, tabun and
sarin within months. - Iraq says anything that has not been destroyed
will have degraded beyond use by now.
11Major Iraqi Sites Suspected of Housing Chemical
Weapons
12For ComparisonUnited States Stockpiles of CW
(June, 2000)
13Close Up Chemical Weapons Making Recent
NewsContinued
- Mustard Gas
- Mustard gas 'Mustard' is liquid at room
temperature, but is more commonly used in its gas
form - which has a strong smell likened to
horseradish or garlic. - Absorption Contact with skin or inhalation
- Effects Mustard gas is a blistering agent,
burning eyes and skin exposed to it and lungs,
mouth and throat if it is inhaled. It is not
normally lethal, but can cause cancer and serious
disfigurement. - Symptoms Conjunctivitis, skin burns, throat
pain, cough and susceptibility to infection and
pneumonia. Symptoms are not usually noticed until
1 6 hours after exposure. - Protection Protective clothing and early
decontamination, followed by antibiotics. - Iraqi program Iraq has admitted making 2,850
tons of mustard gas, has filled bombs with it and
used it against Kurds at Halabja in 1988.
14Close Up Chemical Weapons Making Recent
NewsContinued
- VX
- VX A clear, colorless liquid technically named
methylphosphonothioic acid and described as the
most deadly nerve agent ever created. - Absorption Through eyes, lungs and skin
- Effects Like other nerve agents, VX attacks the
nervous system severe doses can cause death
within 15 minutes of exposure. - Lethal dose Fraction of a drop
- Symptoms Small doses trigger nasal discharge,
chest tightness, wheezing and headaches severe
doses lead to convulsions, confusion and
respiratory failure. - Protection Immediate injection of atropine
- Iraqi program Iraq has admitted making 3.9
tonnes, including 1.5 tons which the UK says
remain unaccounted for. Also unaccounted for are
300 tons of a chemical which Iraq had used only
for the production of VX. VX was used in the
Iraqi attack on the Kurds at Halabja and traces
of it have also been found on remnants of
ballistic missile warheads.
15Close Up Chemical Weapons Making Recent
NewsContinued
- Sarin
- Sarin A colorless liquid several times more
deadly than cyanide, sarin is related to a group
of pesticides and was initially developed in
Germany in the 1930s. - Effects Sarin attacks the nervous system when
inhaled or absorbed through the skin. Inhalation
can cause death within 1 10 minutes of
exposure. - Lethal dose 0.5 milligrams
- Symptoms Pupils shrink to pinpoints and sweating
and twitching precede symptoms similar to those
for VX exposure. - Protection Injection of antidote immediately
after contact. - Iraqi program Iraq has admitted to manufacturing
795 tons of sarin, filling bombs with it and
developing ballistic missile warheads to deliver
it. Iraq used sarin against Iranian troops during
the Iran-Iraq war, and against Kurds at Halabja
in 1988.
16Close Up Chemical Weapons Making Recent
NewsContinued
- Tabun
- Tabun Also known as GB, tabun was discovered in
Germany by Dr Gerhard Schrader, who also first
developed sarin. - Effects If inhaled or absorbed through the eyes
or skin, tabun can kill in as little as one or
two minutes. - Symptoms Similar to VX and sarin.
- Protection Injection of antidote immediately
after contact. - Iraqi program Iraq has admitted to producing 210
tonnes of tabun and using the agent to fill
bombs. A UN-backed team has confirmed that Iraq
used tabun as early as 1984 against Iranian
forces. Tabun was also used in the Iraqi attack
on Kurds at Halabaja in 1988.
17Advantages
- Difficult detection
- Ease of transport in a sealed container
- Low cost/ low technology to develop
- Frightening image
- Overall efficiency
- Industrial chemicals can be purchased legally
18AdvantagesContinued
- A cost comparison
- For a large-scale operation against a civilian
population casualties might const 2,000 per
square kilometer with conventional weapons, 800
with nuclear weapons, 600 with nerve-gas
weapons, 1 with biological weapons
19Disadvantages
- Increased effort in retaliation from
anti-terrorist forces - Risk for terrorists using chemical weapons to
harm themselves
20Future Implications
- The likeliness of an incident involving chemical
weapons has increased dramatically in the past
decade - Binary weapons are becoming an even more
desirable terrorist weapon - Reduced risk during storage and transport
- Binary weapons store the chemical agent as two
separate precursor chemicals that combine to form
the final lethal product - reduce the threat of accidental exposure upon
dispersal of the agent - Binary weapons can be made with a time-delay
mechanism to assure the terrorist escapes without
harm
21Future ImplicationsContinued
- The spread of chemical weapons capability to
third world countries which may have connections
with terrorists
22International Policy Attempts to Eradicate
Chemical Warfare
- The Hague Gas Declaration of 1891 banned the use
of projectiles the sole object of which is the
diffusion of asphyxiating or deleterious gases - The Brussels Declaration of 1874 and the Hague
Conventions of 1899-1907 banned the use of poison
gas and poisoned bullets - Following the horrors of CW in WWi, the
Washington Arms Conference Treaty was signed on
Feb 6, 1922, prohibiting the use of asphyxiating,
poisonous or other gases - France objected to other provisions in the treaty
and it never went into effect
23International Policy Attempts to Eradicate
Chemical WarfareContinued
- The 1925 Geneva Protocol also prohibited the use
of poison gas and bacteriological methods of
warfare - The protocol languished in the U.S. Senate until
1975, when it was finally ratified
24U.S. National Policy on Chemical Weapons
- In May, 1991 President Bush committed the United
States to destroy all CW and to renounce the
right to CW retaliation - Congress has since passed legislation requiring
the destruction of the entire stockpile by
December 31, 2004. - The U.S. declared policy is to support the
Chemical Weapons Convention as a means to achieve
a global ban on this class of weapons and to halt
their proliferation.