Pdf overall view of chemical and biochemical weapons. Weaponpossessor states may accelerate their destruction schedule as. They are banned by the 1997 chemical weapons convention cwc, which not only requires their complete destruction, but also mandates that environmental and public health be fully protected during the process of disarmament and disposal. Much of the equipment and expertise is similar to that used in research or industrial programs. The day the first poison gas attack changed the face of warfare forever. While the relative military threat posed by the various chemical types has.
Chemical weapons overview the modern era of chemical weaponry began in the first world war and advances in synthetic chemistry led to the development of increasingly potent compounds such as nerve agents and vx. Anyone with a few years of training in chemistry and access to some freely available raw materials could easily produce chemical weapons like sarin gas, chemical weapons expert and rice university professor james tour told rt. Whats more, chemical weapons are more dispersive than most conventional weapons, more likely to cause collateral damage to noncombatants. Modern chemical weapons tend to focus on agents with much greater killing power, meaning that it takes a lot less of the chemical to kill the same number of people. A single drop on the skin or inhaled into the lungs can cause the brain centres controlling respiration to shut down and muscles, including the heart and diaphragm, to become paralyzed. Chemical weapons overview collaborative on health and. Since world war i, when aerosol was used effectively on numerous occasions by both sides to alter the outcome of battles, chemical weapons continue to be used to inflict death or harm on human beings. The history of chemical weapons the shadow of ypres. States parties, in turn, must take the steps necessary to enforce that prohibition in respect of persons natural or legal.
Excluded from this definition are riot control agents, herbicides, smoke, and flame. Since the end of world war ii there has been a number of treaties dealing with the limitations, reductions, and elimination of socalled weapons of mass destruction andor their transport systems generally called delivery systems. A chemical weapon is a chemical used to cause intentional death or harm through its toxic properties. Smallbatch production smallbatch production of cw agents at a pilot.
The treaty requires each member state to declare whether it has any chemical weapons on its territory, no matter the age of the weapons or whom they belong to. Chemical weapons fact sheets physicians for human rights. The basics of chemical and biological weapons howstuffworks. Chemical weapons history american chemical society. A ll states parties to the chemical weapons convention cwc commit to a world free of chemical weapons. Chemical weapons have no mercy on innocent children, agriculture and livestock, causing severe damage to sources of food of local people and causing longlasting effects. These factors indicate we have strong pro tanto reasons to prefer, if a conflict is going to occur at all, that conventional rather than chemical weapons be used. Why chemical weapons are so dangerous public radio. The toxic component of a chemical weapon is called its chemical agent.
The organisation strives to fulfill the conventions mandate to end the development, production, stockpiling, transfer and use of chemical weapons. Chemical and biological weapons international committee. States parties were required to destroy their cws by 2007, with an option to request a onetime. Compiled from publicly available sources and vetted by experts in the field, the fact sheets are designed to synthesize and clearly communicate the pragmatic science. A chemical weapon utilizes a manufactured chemical to incapacitate, harm, or kill people. Many of them use the sorts of chemicals found in insecticides. Chemical weapons cw chemical weapons are manmade, supertoxic chemicals that can be dispersed as a gas, vapor, liquid, aerosol a suspension of microscopic droplets, or adsorbed onto a fine talcumlike powder to create dusty agents. An introduction to organic chemistry and chemical weapons. China is widely reported to have active programs related to the development of chemical and biological weapons, although essentially no details of these programs. Theyve been around in the 21st century, dating back to wwi. It defined chemical warfare agents as including all substances employed for their. Types of chemical weapons a chemical agent is a substance which is intended for use in military operations to kill, seriously injure or incapacitate people because of its physiological effects.
The most lethal and important chemical weapons contain nerve agents, which affect the transmission of impulses through the nervous system. The international community banned the use of chemical and biological weapons after world war 1 and reinforced the ban in 1972 and 1993 by prohibiting their development, stockpiling and transfer. First, they suffered choking, then they defecated and urinated involuntarily, after that they lost their consciousness, they went into a coma and finally they died. Chemical weapons are inexpensive and are relatively easy to produce, even by small terrorist groups, to create mass casualties with small quantities. Such weapons were widely implemented in world war i. About 70 different chemicals have been used or stockpiled as chemical weapon agents during the 20th century. A chemical weapon agent cwa is a chemical substance whose toxic properties are used to kill, injure or incapacitate human beings. A chemical weapon is a toxic chemical contained in a delivery system, such as a bomb or shell, according to the organisation for the prohibition of chemical weapons. The objective of the chemical weapons convention cwc is to rid the world of. Opened for signature in 1993, the chemical weapons convention entered into force in april 1997.
As effective weapons, they would need to be widely spread by a spray or explosion indoors. A chemical weapon cw is a specialized munition that uses chemicals formulated to inflict. Strictly speaking, a chemical weapon relies on the physiological effects of a chemical, so agents used to produce smoke or flame. Wilfred owen referred to the horrors of chemical warfare in his dramatic poem, dulce et. Munitions, devices and other equipment specifically designed to weaponise toxic chemicals also fall under the definition of chemical weapons. A synopsis of the text t he convention on the prohibition of the development, production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons,and on their destruction the chemical weapons convention, or cwc is a milestone agree.
This statistics is really scary when one talks about the complete annihilation of human mankind. The bad news is that chemical weapons are alive and well today. Plant poisons, animal poisons, bacterial toxins, toxins of. Chemical weapons have been used as weapons of terror, although their historical use has mostly been confined to the battlefield. Chemical weapons used by the nazis used in gas chambers. A general chemical weapons destruction plan must also be submitted, including a schedule compatible with the destruction time frames stipulated by the convention, a list of the types and quantities of chemical weapons. Ethiopia signed onto the chemical weapons convention in 1993. Military planners generally organize chemical agents, such as chemical weapons and toxic industrial chemicals, into four groups. Among the weapons of mass destruction, chemical warfare cw is probably one of the most brutal created by mankind in comparison with biological and nuclear warfare. Prohibition of chemical weapons fact sheet working together for a world free of chemical weapons 2 the chemical weapons convention. Armys gas service section and ended 73 years later in 1990 with the countrys practical adoption of the chemical weapons convention signed 1993. By the 1970s, incineration was the disposal method used. Chemical weaponry stockpiling was an integral part of the arms race throughout the cold war and they were.
Injury from chemical weapon agents, known as cwas, may result from industrial accidents, military stockpiling, war, or a terrorist attack. Types of chemical weapons federation of american scientists. Young, in the science and technology of counterterrorism, 2015. The chemistry of chemical weapons resource rsc education.
Use this worksheet alongside the education in chemistry article freeing the. In the first three major chemical weapons attacks, which occurred in 20, children comprised %14% of direct deaths, ranging in numbers from 2 deaths among 14 to 117 deaths among 923. Uk measures for preventing, preparing for and responding to a chemical weapons attack. All states parties to the chemical weapons convention cwc commit to a world free of chemical weapons. Surviving chemical weapons without special equipment. In modern warfare, chemical weapons were first used in world war i 191418, during which gas warfare inflicted more than one million of the casualties suffered by combatants in that conflict and killed an estimated 90,000.
When you spray your lawn or garden with a chemical to control aphids, you are, in essence, waging a chemical war on. Journal on chemical and biological weapons 6 in fact a lethal dose for 65 billion people which is roughly 10 times more than the current global population of 6. How a whole class of weaponry came to be seen as indecent. Soviet chemical weapons threat dst1620f05185 this is a department of defense intelligence document prepared by the directorate for scientific and technical intelligence of the defense intelligence agency. The convention aims to eliminate an entire category of weapons of mass destruction by prohibiting the development, production, acquisition, stockpiling, retention, transfer or use of chemical weapons by states parties. Nonstockpile chemical warfare items, such as recovered chemical weapons and chemical agent identification sets, were estimated to exist at more than 200 sites in the united states and its territories. Chemical warfare the use of chemical agents in warfare goes back to ancient times. Destruction of stockpiled chemical weapons began in 1985 and is still ongoing. How chemical weapons work nuclear threat initiative.
Acquire equipment and expertise cw programs require precursor chemicals, specialized laboratory equipment and facilities, maintenance equipment and storage facilities. Organisation for the prohibition of chemical weapons fact sheet working together for a world free of chemical weapons 4 what is a chemical weapon. In this activity you will look at the chemistry behind a number of chemical weapons that have been employed throughout history. This is an updated version of a document issued as a department of defense publication in. Chemicals such as phosgene, cyanide, anhydrous ammonia, and chlorine are used widely. Chemical weapons are designed to injure and eventually kill civilians and soldiers. A zoonotic bacteria, tularemia is a pathogen that can disease with as few as 10 organisms. Three types of inspections t he chemical weapons convention cwc prohibits the development, production, stockpiling, acquisition and use of chemical weapons and requires states parties to destroy, within specific time frames, any chemical weapons and related production facilities they may possess. The united states chemical weapons program began in 1917 during world war i with the creation of the u. Easy to make and disperse, impossible to get rid of 12 sep, 20 02. They are manmade agents that use the toxic, rather than the explosive. The treaty prohibits the production, acquisition, stockpiling, and use of cws. Recovery of chemical weapons an overview the centers for disease control and prevention cdc oversees the u.
Chemical agents most chemical warfare agents are liquids that evaporate into vapors at varying rates. Industrial accidents are a significant potential source of exposure to chemical agents. Chemical weapon, any of several chemical compounds, usually toxic agents, that are intended to kill, injure, or incapacitate enemy personnel. Buried munitions before the chemical weapons elimination program began, the u. Chemical weapons and chemical warfare, these almost forgotten threats. All toxic chemicals and their precursors, except when used for purposes permitted by the cwc in. It is a category a pathogen and this disease can spread from many routes including inhalation of the aerosolized bacteria, through contaminated bacteria, and from bites from an arthropod vector such as ticks or fleas.