Chemical warfare refers to the use of the toxic properties of chemicals as a weapon. Because of this, there are many chemicals that have toxic effects to humans that can be used as a weapon. These are different from biological weapons that use organisms as the weapon.
Lets look at one element –Chlorine, it atomic symbol is Cl. When combined with sodium it makes table salt, the stuff you put on your chips. In other compounds, chlorine helps clean your pool. But as a gas, chlorine was used in World War I as a chemical weapon, and can be lethal.
Not all chemical weapons are lethal. Tear gas, the stuff that police use for riot control, is on example of a less than lethal chemical weapon. Tear gas is often a concoction of other riot control weapons such as OC gas (pepper spray or capsicum spray) but is mainly based on CS Gas. Most of the elements in these compounds are carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen, with some types using nitrogen, chlorine, and bromine.
Some of the worst chemical weapons are nerve agents. These are often designated as weapons of mass destruction and will often have no use other than to be a weapon against other people. VX Gas is the most famous of these due to the movie ‘The Rock’, and is also the most lethal.
Hi Jamescats,
Dustin has done a good job of explaining this, but I thought I’d add some more famous examples of chemicals that have been used in warfare.
Napalm is a substance that was used during World War II. Researchers found that napalm (which contains naphthenic acids and palmitic acid, which is where the name came from) could be combined with some other substances to make a paste that burnt quite slowly. So this became used as part of flamethrowers and firebombs, which are known as ‘incendiary weapons’, and caused widespread damage, including severe burns and death.
Agent Orange is another famous chemical weapon. This contains toxic chemicals called dioxins, and is actually a herbicide (which means it kills plants) and a defoliant (which means it causes plants’ leaves to fall off). It was used during the Vietnam War by the US army to strip many forests so that the guerillas would be deprived of cover and food. Exposure to Agent Orange caused things like severe burns, birth defects, and severe deforestation.
Sarin gas is a nerve agent you might have heard of. It is an organophosphorus compound (which means it is an organic compound that contains phosphorus) and is extremely toxic. It is made by reacting two chemicals together, so these two chemicals can be placed separately inside a shell. The idea was that the two chemicals would react when the shell was detonated. You might have heard about this in 2004 when some US soldiers were exposed to sarin in Iraq.
Phosgene is another poisonous gas. It actually can’t be detected by smell until it is at four times the dangerous level!
This one acts by affecting proteins in your alveoli (the part of your lungs where oxygen enters the blood stream from), and leads to suffocation. This was used extensively during World War I.
Mustard gas, or sulfur mustards, are several chemicals that contain sulfur and chlorine. These chemicals can be easily absorbed through our skin and fat, and react to form an intermediate that interacts irreversibly with DNA. This then causes cell death, or can cause mutations or cancer. The effects of mustard gas are not immediate so people can unknowingly be exposed to very high doses of it without realising it, if they pass through a contaminated area. The most immediate effects of mustard gas are severe blistering and chemical burns. This chemical was first used as a weapon during World War I and has been used in several conflicts ever since then.
Hi Jamescats,
Chemical warfare refers to the use of the toxic properties of chemicals as a weapon. Because of this, there are many chemicals that have toxic effects to humans that can be used as a weapon. These are different from biological weapons that use organisms as the weapon.
Lets look at one element –Chlorine, it atomic symbol is Cl. When combined with sodium it makes table salt, the stuff you put on your chips. In other compounds, chlorine helps clean your pool. But as a gas, chlorine was used in World War I as a chemical weapon, and can be lethal.
Not all chemical weapons are lethal. Tear gas, the stuff that police use for riot control, is on example of a less than lethal chemical weapon. Tear gas is often a concoction of other riot control weapons such as OC gas (pepper spray or capsicum spray) but is mainly based on CS Gas. Most of the elements in these compounds are carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen, with some types using nitrogen, chlorine, and bromine.
Some of the worst chemical weapons are nerve agents. These are often designated as weapons of mass destruction and will often have no use other than to be a weapon against other people. VX Gas is the most famous of these due to the movie ‘The Rock’, and is also the most lethal.
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Dustin has it covered.
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Hi Jamescats,
Dustin has done a good job of explaining this, but I thought I’d add some more famous examples of chemicals that have been used in warfare.
Napalm is a substance that was used during World War II. Researchers found that napalm (which contains naphthenic acids and palmitic acid, which is where the name came from) could be combined with some other substances to make a paste that burnt quite slowly. So this became used as part of flamethrowers and firebombs, which are known as ‘incendiary weapons’, and caused widespread damage, including severe burns and death.
Agent Orange is another famous chemical weapon. This contains toxic chemicals called dioxins, and is actually a herbicide (which means it kills plants) and a defoliant (which means it causes plants’ leaves to fall off). It was used during the Vietnam War by the US army to strip many forests so that the guerillas would be deprived of cover and food. Exposure to Agent Orange caused things like severe burns, birth defects, and severe deforestation.
Sarin gas is a nerve agent you might have heard of. It is an organophosphorus compound (which means it is an organic compound that contains phosphorus) and is extremely toxic. It is made by reacting two chemicals together, so these two chemicals can be placed separately inside a shell. The idea was that the two chemicals would react when the shell was detonated. You might have heard about this in 2004 when some US soldiers were exposed to sarin in Iraq.
Phosgene is another poisonous gas. It actually can’t be detected by smell until it is at four times the dangerous level!
This one acts by affecting proteins in your alveoli (the part of your lungs where oxygen enters the blood stream from), and leads to suffocation. This was used extensively during World War I.
Mustard gas, or sulfur mustards, are several chemicals that contain sulfur and chlorine. These chemicals can be easily absorbed through our skin and fat, and react to form an intermediate that interacts irreversibly with DNA. This then causes cell death, or can cause mutations or cancer. The effects of mustard gas are not immediate so people can unknowingly be exposed to very high doses of it without realising it, if they pass through a contaminated area. The most immediate effects of mustard gas are severe blistering and chemical burns. This chemical was first used as a weapon during World War I and has been used in several conflicts ever since then.
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