What group of toxic substances does sarin belong to? Sarin gas: effects on humans, application. History of Sarin

On April 22, 1915, a strange yellowish-green cloud moved from the direction of the German positions towards the trenches in which the French-British troops were located. In a matter of minutes it reached the trenches, filling every hole, every depression, flooding craters and trenches. An incomprehensible greenish fog first caused surprise among the soldiers, then fear, but when the first clouds of smoke enveloped the area and made people suffocate, the troops were seized with real horror. Those who could still move fled, trying in vain to escape the suffocating death that inexorably pursued them.

This was the first massive use of chemical weapons in human history. On that day, the Germans sent 168 tons of chlorine from 150 gas batteries to Allied positions. After this, German soldiers took up positions left in panic by the Allied troops without losses.

The use of chemical weapons caused a real storm of indignation in society. And although by that time the war had already turned into a bloody and senseless massacre, there was something extremely cruel in poisoning people with gas - like rats or cockroaches.

The chemical agents that were used during this conflict are today classified as first-generation chemical weapons. Here are their main groups:

General toxic agent (hydrocyanic acid);
Agents of blister action (mustard gas, lewisite);
Asphyxiating agents (phosgene, diphosgene);
Irritating agents (for example, chloropicrin).

During WWI, about 1 million people suffered from chemical weapons, and hundreds of thousands of people died.

After the end of WWII, work in the field of improving chemical weapons continued, and deadly arsenals continued to be replenished. The military had little doubt that the next war would also be a chemical one.

In the 1930s, work began in several countries on the creation of chemical weapons based on organophosphorus substances. In Germany, a group of scientists worked on the creation of new types of pesticides, led by Dr. Schrader. In 1936, he managed to synthesize a new organophosphorus insecticide, which was extremely effective. The substance was called herd. However, it soon became clear that it is perfect not only for exterminating pests, but also for mass persecution of people. Subsequent developments were already underway under the patronage of the military.

In 1938, an even more toxic substance was obtained - isopropyl ester of methyl fluorophosphonic acid. It was named after the first letters of the names of the scientists who synthesized it - sarin. This gas turned out to be ten times more deadly than the herd. Soman, the pinacolyl ester of methyl fluorophosphonic acid, became even more toxic and persistent; it was obtained a few years later. The last substance in this series, cyclosarin, was synthesized in 1944 and is considered the most dangerous of them. Sarin, soman, and V-gases are considered to be second-generation chemical weapons.

After the end of the war, work on improving nerve gases continued. In the 50s, V-gases were first synthesized, which are several times more toxic than sarin, soman and tabun. For the first time, V-gases (they are also called VX-gases) were synthesized in Sweden, but very soon Soviet chemists managed to obtain them.

In the 60-70s, the development of third-generation chemical weapons began. This group includes toxic substances with an unexpected mechanism of attack and toxicity that is even greater than nerve gases. In addition, in the post-war years, much attention was paid to improving the means of delivering chemical agents. During this period, the Soviet Union and the United States began developing binary chemical weapons. This is a type of toxic substance, the use of which is possible only after mixing two relatively harmless components (precursors). The development of binary gases greatly simplifies the production of chemical weapons and makes international control of their proliferation virtually impossible.

Since the first use of combat gases, work has constantly been going on to improve means of protection against chemical weapons. And significant results have been achieved in this area. Therefore, at present, the use of chemical agents against regular troops will not be as effective as during the First World War. It is a completely different matter if chemical weapons are used against civilians, in which case the results are truly frightening. The Bolsheviks liked to carry out similar attacks during the Civil War, in the mid-thirties the Italians used military gases in Ethiopia, in the late 80s the Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein poisoned rebel Kurds with nerve gases, fanatics from the Aum Senrikyo sect sprayed sarin in the Tokyo subway.

The latest cases of chemical weapons use are related to the civil conflict in Syria. Since 2011, government forces and the opposition have constantly accused each other of using chemical agents. On April 4, 2019, as a result of a chemical attack in the village of Khan Sheikhoun, in northwestern Syria, about a hundred people were killed and almost six hundred were poisoned. Experts said the attack was carried out using the nerve gas sarin and blamed government forces. Photos of Syrian children poisoned by gas spread throughout the world's media.

Description

Despite the fact that sarin, soman, tabun and VX series toxic substances are called gases, in their normal state of aggregation they are liquids. They are heavier than water and are highly soluble in lipids and organic solvents. The boiling point of sarin is 150°, while for VX gases it is approximately 300°. The higher the boiling point, the higher the resistance of the toxic substance.

All nerve gases are compounds of phosphoric and alkylphosphonic acids. The physiological effect of this type of agent is based on blocking the transmission of nerve impulses between neurons. There is a disruption in the functioning of the enzyme cholinesterase, which plays a critical role in the functioning of our nervous system.

The peculiarity of this group of agents is their extreme toxicity, persistence, and the difficulty of determining the presence of a toxic substance in the air and establishing its exact type. In addition, protection from nerve gases requires a whole range of collective and individual protection measures.

The first signs of poisoning with nerve gases are constriction of the pupil (miosis), difficulty breathing, emotional lability: a person develops a feeling of fear, irritability, and disturbances in the normal perception of the environment.

There are three degrees of damage from nerve gases; they are similar for all representatives of this group of agents:

Mild degree. In mild cases of poisoning, victims experience shortness of breath, chest pain, and disturbances in perception and behavior. Possible visual disturbances. A typical symptom of nerve agent damage is a sharp constriction of the pupils.
Average degree. The same symptoms are observed as in the mild stage, but they are much more pronounced. The victims begin to choke (outwardly very similar to an attack of bronchial asthma), the person’s eyes hurt and water, there is increased salivation, heart function is disrupted, and blood pressure rises. The mortality rate for moderate poisoning reaches 50%.
Severe degree. In severe poisoning, pathological processes develop rapidly. Victims experience breathing problems, convulsions, involuntary urination and defecation, and fluid begins to leak from the nose and mouth. Death occurs as a result of paralysis of the respiratory muscles or damage to the respiratory center in the brain stem.

It should be noted that first aid and subsequent treatment are effective only for mild to moderate gas damage. If the injury is severe, nothing can be done to help the victim.

Sarin. It is a colorless liquid that evaporates easily at normal temperatures and is practically odorless. This property is characteristic of all chemical agents in this group and makes nerve gases extremely dangerous: their presence can be detected only with the help of special devices or after the appearance of characteristic symptoms of poisoning. However, in this case it is often too late to provide assistance to the victims.

In its basic (warfare) form, sarin is a fine aerosol that causes poisoning any way it enters the body: through the skin, respiratory system or digestive system. Gas damage through the respiratory system occurs faster and in a more severe form.

The first signs of poisoning are detected already at a concentration of OM in the air equal to 0.0005 mg/l. Sarin is an unstable toxic substance. In summer its durability is several hours. Sarin reacts rather poorly with water, but reacts well with solutions of alkalis or ammonia. Usually they are used for degassing the area.

Herd. A colorless, odorless liquid, practically insoluble in water, but soluble in alcohols, ethers and other organic solvents. It is used in the form of a fine aerosol. The tabun boils at a temperature of 240°, freezes at -50° C.

Lethal concentration in the air is 0.4 mg/l, upon contact with skin – 50-70 mg/kg. The degassing products of this agent are also toxic, since they contain hydrocyanic acid compounds.

Soman. This toxic substance is a colorless liquid with a faint odor of mown hay. Its physical characteristics are very similar to sarin, but at the same time much more toxic. A mild degree of poisoning is observed already at a concentration of 0.0005 mg/l of the substance in the air; a content of 0.03 mg/l can kill a person within one minute. Affects the body through the skin, respiratory system and digestive system. Alkaline ammonia solutions are used to degas contaminated objects and areas.

VX (VX gas, VX agent). This group of chemicals is one of the most toxic on the planet. VX gas is 300 times more toxic than phosgene. It was developed in the early 50s by Swedish scientists who were working on creating new pesticides. Then the patent was bought by the Americans.

It is an amber oily liquid that is odorless. It boils at a temperature of 300° C, is practically insoluble in water, but reacts well with organic solvents. The combat state of this agent is a fine aerosol. It affects humans through the respiratory system, skin and digestive system. A concentration of 0.001 mg/l of gas in the air kills a person in 10 minutes; at a concentration of 0.01 mg/l, death occurs within a minute.

VX gas is characterized by significant durability: in summer - up to 15 days, in winter - several months, almost until the onset of heat. This substance infects water bodies for a long period - up to six months. Military equipment exposed to VX gas remains dangerous to humans for several more days (up to three in the summer). Symptoms of poisoning are similar to other substances of this group of agents.

Initially developed for firing ammunition with live gases.

To deliver nerve gases to the United States, they planned to use M55 unguided rockets. For ammunition, there were calculations to create an average lethal concentration of gases in a certain area. It can be added that all types of Soviet MLRS can also fire chemical ammunition.

An even more effective means of delivering nerve agents is aviation. Its use makes it possible to cover a much larger area with the toxic substance. For direct delivery, aviation ammunition (usually aerial bombs) or special pour-out containers can be used. According to American estimates, a squadron of B-52 bombers can infect an area of 17 square meters. km.

Various missile systems can be used as a means of delivering chemical agents, usually short- and medium-range tactical missiles. In the USSR, chemical warheads could be installed on the Luna, Elbrus, and Temp OTRKs.

It should be noted that the degree of destruction of enemy personnel greatly depends on the training and security of military personnel. For this reason, it can range from 5 to 70% of fatal cases.

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Sarin is an organic phosphorus-based poisonous substance. This isopropyl ester of methylfluorophosphonic acid is odorless and colorless.

Sarin is classified as a highly toxic substance with a nerve-paralytic effect. Under normal conditions, it is a liquid that evaporates quickly and has no odor. Therefore, when spraying it in the air, a person cannot smell it, but is discovered only after the first signs of poisoning of people appear. The lowest concentration of gas in the air for the appearance of the first symptoms of human poisoning is 0.0005 mg per cubic decimeter of atmosphere. If the concentration is increased 150 times, then a person in the zone of such infection will live only a minute.

Sarin gas has a detrimental effect on the human body even in liquid form. To do this, it is enough to get on the skin in a dosage equal to 24 mg per 1 kg of weight, which will lead to death.

The gas affects the body when it comes into contact with the mucous membrane of the mouth. For irreversible consequences to occur, 0.14 mg per 1 kg of weight is sufficient.

Thus, sarin gas: the effect on humans is deplorable; upon contact with this toxic substance, the chances of survival are low, since it is colorless and odorless.

All toxic substances intended for military purposes primarily affect the nervous system of people. But sarin has its own peculiarity: it can come into contact with enzymes. When gas molecules enter the body, they bind to the cholinesterase protein. As a result, the protein is modified and cannot perform its main task - supporting the performance of nerve fibers.

The freezing temperature of sarin is - 57⁰ C. Frost resistance allows the use of poisonous gas in winter or in areas with a cold climate.

Symptoms of gas poisoning

In our unstable world, no one is safe from gas poisoning. No one can guarantee that someone, somewhere, for some reason, will use a toxic substance. Poisoning of the body occurs through the lungs, skin and through the oral mucosa. An attacker could poison food or water. Therefore, you should know the symptoms of poisoning.

Sarin is a gas, its effect is cumulative, that is, it is capable of accumulating inside the body over a certain period of time, this process leads to death. When a substance is ingested, the first symptoms of poisoning appear after a short period of latent phenomena, then poisoning develops quickly.

A longer prodromal segment (10–15 minutes) in case of poisoning of the body through the skin. But if the gas enters through the lungs or gastrointestinal tract, then the interval of hidden phenomena is almost always absent.

Symptoms of poisoning:

If a toxic substance enters the body through a wound on the skin, then the first sign of poisoning is a muscle spasm in the contact area. In case of poisoning through the gastrointestinal tract, the first symptoms are: development of salivation, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, cramps in the abdominal area. Sarin can also enter the body through the lungs, then the eyes and the lungs themselves are the first to suffer.

Degrees of sarin poisoning

Sarin poisoning can be mild, moderate or severe. The degree of poisoning depends on the amount of the toxic substance that affected the person.

Easy degree: Toxicologists call this form of poisoning “mystical.” This is due to the symptoms that appear in the patient first. He complains of general weakness, headache in the eye area, and restless sleep. And also vision deteriorates, that is, it is difficult to see objects located in the distance, and “night blindness” appears in the dark. When examining the patient, toxicologists note the presence of a constricted pupil.

Average degree: this form is classified as bronchospastic. Here, symptoms such as suffocation, severe abdominal pain that are paroxysmal in nature, and diarrhea come to the fore. All other manifestations of intoxication are more pronounced than with mild poisoning. Toxicologists make the diagnosis based on the manifestation of bronchial asthma, sharp paroxysmal abdominal pain, and diarrhea.

A person with moderate sarin poisoning has only a 50% chance of recovery. But if medical assistance is not provided on time, then this indicator tends to 100%.

Severe degree of poisoning: It is called convulsive-paralytic. The patient experiences symptoms similar to those of moderate poisoning, only they are more fleeting and severe. Therefore, the patient falls into an unconscious state. In this case, the eyes remain open, the pupils are constricted. The skin and mucous membranes have a bluish color. Clonic-tonic convulsions appear, which turn into paralysis. After a few minutes, breathing stops and death occurs.

First aid

First aid is provided to people with mild to moderate poisoning. In severe cases, all processes proceed very quickly and death occurs.

First aid algorithm:

Remove the person from the contaminated area or provide protective equipment: protective suit, gas mask. Remove all contaminated clothing from the person. Wash your face and hands with liquid from an individual anti-chemical bag, if you don’t have one, then with a solution of tea soda.
Give an intramuscular injection of the antidote - atropine. It is administered every 10 minutes until the person feels relief. The dosage of atropine for a mild form is 2 cubes, for an average form 4.
Then praldoxime, diazepam, dipyroxime, etc. are added to the treatment. These drugs stop seizures and restore cholinesterase protein.

In ordinary life, getting poisoned by sarin is unlikely. But given the current situation in the world, this incident cannot be completely ruled out.

Sarin is a poisonous liquid or gas of the group of organophosphorus substances. In the gaseous state it has neither color nor odor.

During wars, sarin was used as a chemical weapon of mass destruction. Today this substance is prohibited for production in a number of countries, including Russia. However, the likelihood that it is still used for terrorist purposes is still high.

In addition, in laboratories in some countries, sarin is still used to carry out chemical reactions.

The effects of sarin on the body

The principle of action of the gas is nerve-paralytic. That is, the nervous system comes under attack to a greater extent:

Sarin provokes the continuous functioning of nerve cells - neurons. Without external influence on the body, it produces substances that inhibit the process of constant transmission of impulses, and the gas stops the production of these substances. As a result, impulses arrive continuously, the nervous system works in an enhanced mode and is quickly depleted.
The nerve fibers of organs undergo changes, after which malfunctions occur in the functioning of the whole organism.
In a chain reaction, the respiratory, digestive and urinary systems begin to suffer.
As a result of the continuous operation of the nervous system, the acid-base balance is disrupted and cardiac arrest occurs.
Sarin is converted to decay products in the liver. As a result of the breakdown of the toxin, the organ begins to produce toxic substances, and the body is gradually re-poisoned with some changes in symptoms.

If sarin enters the body, severe poisoning occurs, almost always leading to death.

Ways and causes of poisoning

Sarin can enter the body in three standard ways:

through inhalation of gas;
after contact of liquid or gaseous sarin with skin;
if it enters the digestive system (if contaminated food and water were consumed).

This can happen both in the production and work with sarin in laboratories, and during a terrorist attack using a toxic substance.

To cause severe intoxication by inhaling gas, 0.0005 mg / 1 dm³ is enough, for death - 0.075 mg (and death from sarin in this amount will occur within a minute). The lethal dose of sarin in liquid form upon contact with the skin is 24 mg / 1 kg of body weight. For death from poison entering the digestive tract, only 0.14 mg / 1 kg is enough.

Features of application

It is mainly sarin gas that has the lethal effect. And if we remember that gas has no color, no taste, no smell, then a person will not be able to sense the danger in time. Because of this, the deterioration of the condition occurs quickly and unnoticed.

Detecting the presence of sarin in the air is possible only with the help of special gas traps and similar devices. Moreover, sarin gas is perfectly absorbed into the rubber protective form, so ammunition made from this material cannot fully protect against poisoning.

Sarin also absorbs well into painted surfaces, evaporating from which the gas continues to poison the air and people breathing it for some time.

How does poisoning manifest itself?

With sarin intoxication, symptoms appear literally within seconds. The clinical picture depends on the degree of poisoning. There are 3 degrees in total: mild, moderate and severe.

Lightweight

The symptoms of this stage resemble poisoning with other gases. In this case, the person feels pain in the sternum, weakness, fog and shortness of breath.

Average

With a higher concentration of sarin, the symptoms of poisoning will be different:

headache;
profuse lacrimation;
pain in the eyes, bright redness of the sclera;
constriction of the pupils, and this is often more pronounced in one eye;
nausea and vomiting;
cold sweat;
temperature fluctuations up and down;
shortness of breath even at rest, cough;
attacks similar to asthmatic ones;
spasms in the throat;
slurred, confused speech, confusion in thoughts;
increased heart rate, pressure surges;
small muscle twitches turning into tremors;
mental disorders (increasing fears, anxiety, apathy, depression, trembling, etc.).

Despite the fact that this stage is classified as medium, with such sarin intoxication, in half of the cases deaths are recorded due to the slightest delay in providing assistance.

Heavy

This is the most severe poisoning, in which the concentration of sarin is critical.

The signs of sarin damage here are the same as in the middle stage, but they develop much more severely and faster. In addition to these, additional symptoms are added:

the person vomits violently (if liquid sarin enters the body, a smell similar to apple tree is felt);
pain in the head and eyes becomes unbearable;
uncontrolled urination or defecation occurs;
after a couple of minutes he loses consciousness;
convulsions begin, turning into paralysis.

After 10 minutes of torment, a person’s death occurs.

How you can help

Whether the victim survives or not depends on how quickly first aid is provided for sarin poisoning. After calling an ambulance, you need to do the following as quickly as possible:

immediately remove the poisoned person from the affected area to the air;
remove clothing from the victim that has become saturated with sarin;
if sarin gets on your skin, cut off your nails and hair (this can also avoid additional contact with the poison);
treat the affected area of skin with a weak alkali solution (this will help neutralize the sarin somewhat);
if you swallow sarin-poisoned water, food, or the poison itself in liquid form, rinse your mouth with a weak alkaline solution and give the poisoned person activated charcoal;
to restore enzymes that stop the continuous transmission of nerve impulses, the victim needs to take the drugs Dipiroxime, Isonitrozine or Dietixime (these drugs in this case can somewhat replace the antidote);
treat the mucous membranes of the person poisoned with sarin (rinse the eyes with a 1% sodium bicarbonate solution or water), and then drip a Novocaine solution.

A special antidote for sarin (Athens) and Taren tablets are unlikely to be found at home. These antidotes are only available in military first aid kits during tests or exercises. But all other measures to provide assistance in case of sarin poisoning must be carried out immediately, without wasting a second, otherwise the victim will die.

Treatment

All therapy will take place only in a hospital. It is impossible to fully help the victim either at home or in the field. What will doctors do:

immediately - correction of circulatory and respiratory disorders (if they are observed);
intramuscular antidote Atropine, Scopolamine, Cyclodol, Aprofen or Hyoscyamine at intervals of 10-15 minutes until the condition improves;
Additionally, the antidote Unithiol can be administered for detoxification;
connection to antioxidant therapy;
anticonvulsants (Diazepam or magnesium sulfate);
vitamin E, hydrocortisone;
plasma expanders and saline solutions for the treatment and prevention of the consequences of sarin poisoning;
in severe cases - mechanical ventilation or hemodialysis.

Read also: Carbon monoxide poisoning in humans

During the treatment period, doctors do not stop monitoring a person who has been poisoned by sarin, since any sudden change in the victim’s condition can result in his death.

What are the risks of poisoning?

Consequences and complications can appear both shortly after sarin poisoning and after a while. Moreover, it does not matter how mild or severe the intoxication was: changes in the functioning of organs will still affect the health of the surviving person:

relapse of poisoning (can occur after a week and be accompanied by more vivid symptoms) as a result of involuntary production of sarin metabolites by the liver;
pneumonia;
disorders of the nervous system (neuritis, headaches, causeless darkening of the eyes, astheno-vegetative syndromes, etc.);
late sarin intoxication as a long-term consequence;
sometimes - kidney damage (nephropathy, etc.);
heart problems, accompanied by chest pain, shortness of breath with slight exertion and changes in rhythm;
toxic hepatitis with subsequent yellowing of the skin and impaired digestive function (occurs due to the powerful effect of sarin on the liver).

The damage caused to the body by the toxic effect of sarin is destructive. And since the chances of saving the victim are too small due to lack of time, the main consequence may be the death of a person.

Have you ever been poisoned by sarin?

UN experts have confirmed that the chemical used in Damascus last month is sarin, a deadly poison that is tasteless, odorless and colorless. This makes it one of the most lethal weapons in modern warfare.

Now we know this. On the morning of August 21, while the skies over Damascus were still cool, rockets filled with sarin, a nerve agent, fell on a rebel-held area of the Syrian capital. As a result, large numbers of men, women and children were killed and seriously injured. UN inspectors spent three days in the country, during which time they were initially supposed to verify reports of previous atrocities. They quickly changed their mission. They agreed on a temporary ceasefire with the ruling regime and the rebels and immediately headed to the Goutha region. Video footage from the scene showed stunned and despairing staff at the local hospital.

Never before have UN inspectors worked under such pressure directly in a combat zone. The small team, led by Swedish chemical weapons expert Ake Sellstroem, received threats. Their convoy was fired upon. However, the 41-page report was completed in record time.

Sarin was discovered by accident, and scientists later greatly regretted it. The specialists who discovered it worked on creating insecticides based on organophosphate compounds, and all this happened in Nazi Germany, in the laboratory of the notorious IG Farben company. In 1938, its employees discovered substance 146, capable of causing widespread damage to the nervous system. This chemical element was called isopropyl methyl fluorophosphate, but the German company called it sarin in honor of the chemists who discovered it - Schrader, Ambros, Ritter and Van der Linder. You can read about this in Benjamin Garrett's 2009 book, The A to Z of Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Warfare. The chemical substance discovered by German specialists has a terrible distinctive feature - it is many times more deadly than cyanide.

Substance 146 is not difficult to make, but it is difficult to do without killing yourself. There are more than a dozen recipes for making sarin, but they all require some technical knowledge, appropriate laboratory equipment and a serious attitude to safety issues. One of the main components is isopropanol, which is better known as surgical alcohol. Another component is formed by mixing methylphosphonyl dichloride with hydrogen or sodium fluoride. However, methylphosphonyl dichloride is not easy to obtain. According to the Chemical Weapons Convention, it is designated as a Schedule I substance, making it the most restricted substance in existence.

Last year, the United States and others stepped up efforts to block the sale to Syria of chemicals that could be used to make sarin. However, this country has already accumulated significant reserves of precursors necessary for the production of this type of toxic substance. This year it emerged that Britain had approved export licenses to sell four tonnes of sodium fluoride to Syria between 2004 and 2010, although there was no evidence of the chemicals being supplied, according to Business Secretary Vince Cable. was used as part of the Syrian military program. In addition, export licenses for potassium fluoride and sodium fluoride were also approved a year ago, but they were later revoked, and the basis for this decision was the possibility of their use in the production of chemical weapons.

Sarin is classified as a nerve gas and exists in a liquid state at temperatures below 150 degrees Celsius. To maximize its potential as a weapon, the substance is sprayed from containers, projectiles or missiles into a cloud of droplets small enough to easily enter a person's lungs. In this case, inevitably, some of it turns into a gaseous state, just as splashed water turns into water vapor. This chemical also enters the body through the eyes and skin. Sarin is odorless, tasteless, and colorless, so people only learn about its use when the first victims begin to die.

Sarin causes terrible harm to the human body because it affects critical functions of the nervous system. It blocks an enzyme called acetylchorine esterase, with dire consequences. Those nerves that normally turn on and off to control muscle activity can no longer be turned off. Instead, they are constantly in a state of tension. At first, mild symptoms become noticeable: the eyes become irritated, vision becomes cloudy; the pupils contract, increased salivation and vomiting occur. Then the deadly signs appear. Breathing becomes difficult, shallow and uneven. Unable to control their muscles, victims begin to experience convulsions. The lungs leak fluid, and when people try to breathe, they produce foam at the mouth, which is often slightly blood-stained and pink in color. A lethal dose may be as small as a few drops, and within one to ten minutes the person will die. If someone manages to survive the first 20 minutes after a sarin attack, then these people have a chance to survive.

Soon after the discovery of sarin, the recipe for this toxic substance was transferred to the German army, which began to stockpile it. Sarin was laced with sarin shells, but they were not used against Allied forces during World War II. In Nuremberg in 1948, one of its inventors, Otto Ambros, was accused of war crimes and sentenced to eight years in prison. Four years later, he was released and taken to the United States, where he worked as a consultant as part of America's own chemical weapons program. In military circles, sarin received a secret designation - GB.

A unique document from 1952, a year after Ambrose arrived in America, describes the terrible consequences of sarin poisoning that resulted from an accident in one of the army units. On the morning of November 7, 1952, the jet was en route to the Dugway Proving Ground in Tooele, Utah. The sky was clear and the wind was light at 5 - 6 kilometers per hour. Each container attached to the wings of the plane contained 400 liters of sarin.

This plane, according to the approved plan, was supposed to spray sarin over a designated location, but due to a technical failure, 360 liters of sarin still remained in each container, and at 20:29 they were dropped over a remote area of the test site. The containers fell from a height of 700 meters onto a salt crust in the desert and burst open when they hit the ground. Sarin was colored red to indicate how far it would spread, and it covered an area of 3,800 square meters.

An inspection team was sent to the site where the containers fell to study the situation. Half an hour before arriving at the site, all its members put on gas masks. All except one 32-year-old man. He quickly got out of the ambulance and headed towards the crater created by the falling containers. Ten seconds later he turned around, grabbed his chest and walked back to the car. He shouted for a gas mask and then tripped. Here's what the report says: “He staggered, one of his arms began to bend and straighten sharply. When he reached the ambulance, he fell.”

Doctors quickly gave him a deep injection of atropine into his thigh. This is the standard antidote for sarin, capable of blocking the effects of this type of toxic substance on the nervous system. When the victim inhaled, he made hoarse sounds and some other low gurgling sound, as if gargling. For a minute he experienced frequent and very strong convulsions, his legs and spine were extended, and he clasped his head with his hands. Then a limp paralysis set in, and he froze, staring at one point. After two minutes, he could only inhale air from time to time. His pupils have greatly decreased in size. “Team members could not feel his arterial pulse,” the report notes.

It continues to describe the consequences of poisoning; they are recorded carefully, in the smallest detail. Somehow, miraculously, this man remained alive after he was connected to an iron lung resuscitator. Three hours later, the report noted: “The patient was responsive and oriented, although he complained of severe pain.” As a result, he then received the title of the person most affected by sarin.

The United States was not the only country to experiment with sarin during the Cold War. The Soviet Union also produced this chemical warfare agent. And Britain showed interest in him. A year after the Dugway incident, a 20-year-old engineer named Ronald Maddison took part in an experiment at the Porton Down chemical agents testing site in Wiltshire. On May 6, at 10:17 p.m., specialists from Porton sprayed liquid sarin on the hands of Maddison and five other experiment participants, who were in an isolated gas chamber to ensure the safety of the scientists. Maddison felt sick and collapsed on the table. He was taken to the hospital located there, where he died at 11 p.m. In 2004, more than 50 years later, an investigation found that the Ministry of Defense had wrongfully killed Maddison, in what turned out to be the longest cover-up of the Cold War.

Accidents and unethical experiments provide only a glimpse of the horrors made possible by the discoveries of scientists and the invention of sarin. In the hands of the military, sarin and other chemical warfare agents were a means by which large numbers of people could be killed quickly, and so the figures given were usually rounded to the hundreds or even the thousands. Saddam Hussein's 1988 bombing of Halabja in northern Iraq lasted two days and killed 5,000 people. This attack on the Kurds was declared an act of genocide by the Iraqi High Tribunal in 2010. This was the largest use of chemical weapons against civilians in history.

In 1993, 162 countries signed the Chemical Weapons Convention, which outlawed their production and storage. Gradually, states began to destroy their stockpiles of chemical weapons, which in itself is a complex and dangerous undertaking. Engineers have proposed several rather crude, but effective ways to solve this problem. One involves attaching an explosive to a missile, projectile or container of toxic chemicals. After this, they are placed in a special armored chamber, where they are detonated. Another method is to burn chemical warheads in armored ovens. Stockpiles of chemical weapons stored in barrels are calcined or "neutralized" by mixing them with other chemicals. More advanced installations use sealed containers in which toxic chemicals are processed, but this is expensive. In Iraq in the 1990s, poisonous chemicals were mixed with gasoline and burned in brick ovens set in trenches in the desert.

The adopted Convention did not prohibit access to the primary chemical elements necessary for the production of sarin. Two years later, members of the Aum Shinrikyo sect sprayed containers with homemade sarin into the Tokyo subway. Then about ten people died, and more than 5.5 thousand victims sought medical help, while most people were simply scared and believed that they, too, had been exposed to toxic substances. Kenichiro Taneda, a doctor at St. Luke's International Hospital, recalled the horror of having to transport a woman who died in the emergency room to the morgue, which required walking with a stretcher through a large crowd of people. In order not to cause panic, he “drove her, holding an oxygen mask to her face and hiding her body under a blanket.”

Doctors treating victims of the Tokyo subway attack conducted a large number of tests to detect traces of sarin in blood, urine and other medical samples. These tests, as well as studies conducted by military specialists, became standard procedures for chemical weapons experts when searching for evidence of sarin use.

Sarin itself easily interacts with water, and therefore it disintegrates during rain, high humidity in the air, or moisture condensation. The instability of this chemical in water was exploited by hospital staff in Syria who hosed down areas where they were treating patients after a chemical attack. For the same reason, sarin does not last long in the atmosphere or in the human body. In laboratories, appropriate research can be carried out, but most often only decomposition products can be detected. Sarin is first converted to isopropyl methylphosphonic acid, which is generally considered evidence of sarin use. However, this acid itself decomposes, turning into methylphosphonic acid. The detection of methylphosphonic acid in the blood or urine is not clear evidence of the presence of sarin: it can also be formed from other organophosphates. It is important to know which ones.

UN experts have found concrete evidence that sarin was used with lethal effect on August 21 in Ghouta, on the outskirts of Damascus. The UN team of experts plans to return to Syria soon and visit Khan al-Assal, Sheikh Maqsoud and Saraqeb, and only then will a final report be prepared. And then another dark chapter in the history of sarin will end and a new one will open, which will focus on the destruction of this type of chemical weapon.

This article was corrected on September 18, 2013. In its original version, it was said that one drop of sarin could kill a person. This statement has been corrected.

Nerve agents can affect humans through any route of entry into the body. With mild inhalation damage, blurred vision, constriction of the pupils of the eyes (miosis), difficulty breathing, a feeling of heaviness in the chest (retrosternal effect), and increased secretion of saliva and mucus from the nose are observed. These phenomena are accompanied by severe headaches and can last from 2 to 3 days. When the body is exposed to lethal concentrations of 0B, severe miosis, suffocation, profuse salivation and sweating occur, a feeling of fear, vomiting and diarrhea, convulsions that can last several hours, and loss of consciousness appear. Death occurs from respiratory and cardiac paralysis.

When exposed through the skin, the pattern of damage is basically similar to that caused by inhalation. The difference is that symptoms appear after some time (from several minutes to several hours). In this case, muscle twitching appears at the site of contact with 0V, then convulsions, muscle weakness and paralysis.

First aid. The affected person must put on a gas mask (if an aerosol or droplet of 0B gets on the skin of the face, the gas mask is put on only after treating the face with liquid from the PPI). Administer the antidote using a syringe tube with a red cap from an individual first aid kit and remove the affected person from the contaminated atmosphere. If the convulsions are not relieved within 10 minutes, re-administer the antidote. If breathing stops, perform artificial respiration. If 0V gets on the body, immediately treat the infected areas with PPI. If 0B gets into the stomach, it is necessary to induce vomiting, if possible, rinse the stomach with a 1% solution of baking soda or clean water, rinse the affected eyes with a 2% solution of baking soda or clean water. Affected personnel are transported to a medical station.

The presence of nerve agent 0B in the air, on the ground, in weapons and military equipment is detected using chemical reconnaissance devices (indicator tube with a red ring and dot) and gas detectors. AP-1 indicator film is used to detect VX aerosols.

Sarin (GB)

Sarin (GS) is a colorless or yellowish volatile liquid, practically odorless, and does not freeze in winter. Miscible with water and organic solvents in any ratio, soluble in fats. It is resistant to water, which causes contamination of stagnant bodies of water for a long time - up to 2 months. When it comes into contact with human skin, uniforms, shoes and other porous materials, it is quickly absorbed into them.

Sarin is used to destroy manpower by contaminating the ground layer of air through short fire raids by artillery, missile strikes and tactical aircraft. The main combat state is steam. Under average meteorological conditions, sarin vapors can spread downwind up to 20 km from the place of application. Durability of sarin (in funnels): in summer - several hours, in winter - up to 2 days.

When units operate military equipment in an atmosphere contaminated with sarin, gas masks and a combined arms comprehensive protective kit are used for protection. When operating in contaminated areas on foot, additionally wear protective stockings. When staying for a long time in areas with high levels of sarin vapor, it is necessary to use a gas mask and a general protective kit in the form of overalls. Protection against sarin is also ensured by the use of sealed equipment and shelters equipped with filter-ventilation units. Sarin vapor can be absorbed by uniforms and, after leaving the contaminated atmosphere, evaporate, contaminating the air. Therefore, gas masks are removed only after special treatment of uniforms, equipment and control of air contamination.

The first signs of sarin damage are observed at concentrations of about 0.0005 mg/l after a minute (constriction of the pupils of the eyes, difficulty breathing). The lethal concentration in the air is 0.07 mg/l. with exposure 1 min. The lethal concentration for resorption through the skin is 0.12 mg/l. There are antidotes, such as atropine. Protection against sarin - gas mask and protective clothing.