The Nazis’ decision to avoid the use of chemical weapons on the battlefield has been variously attributed to a lack of technical ability in the German chemical weapons program and fears that the Allies would retaliate with their own chemical weapons.

Terrorism and Homeland Security A weapon of mass destruction (WMD) is something capable of inflicting mass casualties and/or destroying or rendering high-value assets as useless. Although chemical, biological, nuclear, and radiological weapons often serve as examples of WMD, many things can be used as a WMD.

Chemical warfare agents are among the easiest WMD to produce. The toxicity of chemical agents falls generally between that of the more deadly biological agents and that of conventional weapons.

Gerhard Schrader

Some people call them nerve gases, but in fact they are all liquids at normal temperatures. They are indelibly associated with war and weapons, though they have never been used in a conventional war. VX wasn’t the first nerve agent to be made, that wastabun. No one planned to make a nerve agent, the German chemist.

Immediate signs and symptoms of sarin exposure

• Runny nose.
• Watery eyes.
• Small, pinpoint pupils.
• Eye pain.
• Blurred vision.
• Drooling and excessive sweating.
• Cough.
• Chest tightness.

Symptoms of acute, low-dose nerve agent exposure include: runny nose, chest tightness, “pinpoint” or abnormally constricted pupils, excessive salivation and sweating, abdominal cramps, muscle twitching, visual disturbances, headache, slurred speech, nausea, hallucinations and confusion.

ANTIDOTE: Atropine and pralidoxime chloride (2-PAM Cl) are antidotes for nerve agent toxicity; however, 2-PAM Cl must be administered within minutes to a few hours (depending on the agent) following exposure to be effective.

The main nerve agents are the chemicals sarin (GB), soman (GD), tabun (GA) and VX. These agents are man-made and have been manufactured for use in chemical warfare. These agents are known to be present in military stockpiles of several nations, including the United States.

Included among the nerve agents are chemicals called carbamates, which include some drugs (such as physostigmine and pyridostigmine) and some insecticides (Sevin7, Raid, etc.).

Sturgess

The Skripals survived the attack, and in the months two Russian nationals were accused of travelling to the UK to try to murder Mr Skripal with Novichok.

The woman, Dawn Sturgess, fell ill within 15 minutes and died on 8 July, but the man, Charlie Rowley, who also came into contact with the poison, survived. British police believe this incident was not a targeted attack, but a result of the way the nerve agent was disposed of after the poisoning in Salisbury.