Chemical weapons have given the human experience of warfare a uniquely terrifying quality that has inspired a general repugnance and led to periodic attempts to ban their use. Nevertheless, since ancient times, toxic agents have been consistently employed to kill and terrorize target populations. The evolution of these weapons is examined here in ways that may allow military, law enforcement, a...

2014 marks the centennial of the outbreak of World War I—the first war that saw the large-scale use of chemical weapons. Although poisons have been used in warfare for centuries, it was rapid advances in science and engineering and the rise of the modern chemical industry that made the mass production of toxic chemicals possible. The horrors of gas warfare led to the signing of the Geneva Proto...

Organophosphorus inhibitors of cholinesterases (commonly called organophosphates, OP) are used in industry as softening agents, hydraulic liquids, lubricant additives, plasticizers, antioxidants, and for antiflammable modifications. They are also used in veterinary or human medicine as drugs or chemicals for the study of nervous functions. They differ in their toxicity from practically non-toxi...

Exposure to chemical agents, both deliberate and accidental, over the past 100 years has resulted in the deaths of thousands and a significant number of casualties requiring hospitalization. The respiratory system is an important portal of entry into the human body for many of these agents, and pulmonary symptoms are a hallmark of many chemical exposures. The 4 major chemical warfare agents are...

In the present work we studied the incidence of fetal deaths among conceptions whose fathers or both parents were survivors of chemical warfare attacks by Iraq. We showed that there was significant correlation between frequency of fetal deaths among conceptions which eventuated after exposure of the parents to gas bombs compared to the frequency of fetal deaths among the control group. Thi...

Organophosphorous compounds have been employed as pesticides and chemical warfare nerve agents. Toxicity of organophosphorous compounds is a result of excessive cholinergic stimulation through inhibition of acetyl cholinesterase. Clinical manifestations include cholinergic syndromes, central nervous system and cardiovascular disorders. Organophosphorous pesticide poisonings are common in develo...

The large-scale use of chemical warfare agents first occurred during World War I (the "chemists' war"), and was thereafter repeated at irregular intervals, most recently during the Iran-Iraq conflict of the 1980s. There was consequently a possibility that chemical weapons might be used in the Gulf war. The threat posed by terrorist groups became evident in 1994-95, when Japanese civilians were ...

organophosphorous compounds have been employed as pesticides and chemical warfare nerve agents. toxicity of organophosphorous compounds is a result of excessive cholinergic stimulation through inhibition of acetyl cholinesterase. clinical manifestations include cholinergic syndromes, central nervous system and cardiovascular disorders. organophosphorous pesticide poisonings are common in develo...

Chemical and biological weapons can be used during conflicts and by terrorists to injure or kill humans and animals. Chemical weapons contain toxic chemicals and biological weapons contain pathogenic organisms. With proper protective equipments and training, the lethal effects of chemical and biological warfare agents can be minimised. First aid kit is available that contain detection, decontam...