Schrader: The Use Of Nerve Agents

The Germen chemist Dr. Gerhard Schrader was given a task to develop a pesticide. In just two years tabun was born, it had extremely high toxicity and was the first of the substances later referred to as nerve agents. A factory was built and produced during the years of 1942-1945 12,000 tons of the chemical warfare agent tabun was made; in which the allies took large quantities of tabun at the end of the war. Even though Hitler and his army were losing the war, Schrader and his co-workers synthesized about 2,000 new compounds up until the end of the war, including sarin in 1938, manufacturing never started properly and up to 1945 only 0.5 tons of sarin was produced and in 1944 soman made its introduction. After the war immediate research
Nerve agents got there name because they affect the transmission of nerve impulses in the nervous system. All of the nerve agents are chemically made, they are stable and are easily dispersed, highly toxic and have rapid effects when absorbed through the skin and via respiration. Nerve agents can be manufactured by fairly simple chemical techniques; raw materials are inexpensive and are readily available generally. The nerve agents GA tabun, GB sarin, and GD soman are manufactured compounds; they are clear, colorless, tasteless liquids miscible in water and most organic solvents. GA has a slight fruity odor, GB is odorless and is the most volatile nerve agent, and GD has a slight camphor-like odor. Nerve agents have been used in wars and by terrorists, they were originally produced in search for insecticides, but because of their toxicity, they were evaluated for military use. They are known to be stored by several countries, including the United States. Tabun is the easiest to manufacture and developing countries start their chemical warfare arsenal with this nerve agents whereas industrialized countries consider tabun to be out of date and of limited use. Sarin on the other hand is a volatile substance mainly taken up through inhalation and the Syrian government has used this agent on its own people killing thousands. Soman is a moderate volatile
The pupil of the eye becomes contracted which impairs night vision, and the accommodation capacity of the eye is also reduced therefore short range vision worsens and the victim is pained when he/she tries to focus on an object. This is accompanied by headache, more unspecific symptoms are tiredness, slurred speech, hallucinations and nausea. Exposures to a higher dose leads to a more substantial development and the symptoms are more noticeable. Bronchoconstriction and secretion of mucous in the respiratory system leads to difficulty in breathing and to coughing, discomfort in the gastrointestinal tract may develop into cramps, vomiting, involuntary discharge of urine and defecation may also occur. Discharge of saliva is powerful and the victim may experience running eyes and sweating. Symptoms from the skeletal muscles are more typical if the poisoning is moderate, may develop muscular weakness or tremors, muscular symptoms are more pronounced, may suffer convulsions and lose consciousness. The poisoning process maybe so rapid that earlier mentioned symptoms may never have time to develop. ("Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons,"