1. Chemical Warfare

2. What is Chemical Warfare?
Chemical Warfare (CW) involves using the toxic properties of chemical substances as weapons

3. Brief Chemical Warfare History
Ancient Times
Poisoned spears and arrows
Arsenical smokes used by Chinese in 1000 BC
Spartans used mixture of wood, pitch, and sulfur to incapacitate Athenians during Peloponnesian war (first recorded use of gas warfare)
Oldest archeological evidence 

4. Brief Chemical Warfare History
Early Modern Era
1672 Christoph Bernhard von Galen attempts siege of the city of Groningen (Netherlands)
Uses explosives and incendiary devices filled with Deadly Nightshade (plant that emits toxins that cause delirium and hallucinations)
1675, French and Holy Roman Empire concluded Strasbourg Agreement…article within bans the use of “perfidious and odious” toxic devices

5. Brief Chemical Warfare History
Industrial Era
Lyon Playfair proposed the industrial manufacture of cyanide artillery shells for use during the Crimean War (1854)
“It is considered a legitimate mode of warfare to fill shells with molten metal which scatters among the enemy, and produced the most frightful modes of death. Why a poisonous vapor which would kill men without suffering is to be considered illegitimate warfare is incomprehensible. War is destruction, and the more destructive it can be made with the least suffering the sooner will be ended that barbarous method of protecting national rights. No doubt in time chemistry will be used to lessen the suffering of combatants, and even of criminals condemned to death.”

6. Brief Chemical Warfare History
World War I, World War II, and Beyond
1914 – 1918: popular chemical weapons include chlorine and mustard gas.
Estimates 90,000 deaths resulted
1925: Geneva protocol makes it illegal to employ chemical or biological weapons (did not ban production/stockpiling)
1935: Italian army uses mustard gas during invasion of Ethiopia

7. Brief Chemical Warfare History
World War I, World War II, and Beyond
1937 – 1945 (Sino-Japanese War): Japan uses chemical weapons (cyanide and mustard gas) on Chinese targets
World War II: No use of chemical warfare by Germany or allies (both possessed substantial amounts)
Cold War: Enormous stockpiles but no deployment (total volume held by US and Soviet Union was enough to destroy much of human and animal life)

8. Brief Chemical Warfare History
World War I, World War II, and Beyond
1980 – 1988 (Iran-Iraq War): Iraq uses nerve agents (sarin and tabun) against Iran
1988 (Halabja massacre): 3,200 – 5,000 Kurds die from sarin and mustard gas deployed by Iraqi government (under control of Saddam Hussein)
1995 (Tokyo subway attacks): 1,000 people affected and 12 die when Japanese Aum Shinrikyo cult deploys homemade sarin

9. Brief Chemical Warfare History
World War I, World War II, and Beyond
1997 (Chemical Weapons Convention): CWC aims to achieve world free from chemical weapons. 189 member states signed and agree to destroy stockpiled weapons. Syria, Angola, Egypt, North Korea, and South Sudan have not signed
2013: US has evidence sarin was used in Damascus suburb (1,400 deaths)

10. Types of Chemical Warfare
Blister agents – causes severe skin and eye irritation and can cause severe chemical burns
Phosgene oxime
Lewisite
Sulfur Mustard (mustard gas)
Nitrogen Mustard (similar to mustard gas)

12. Types of Chemical Warfare
Nerve agents – phosphorus-containing chemicals that leads to contraction of pupils, profuse salivation, convulsions, involuntary urination and defecation, and eventual detah by asphyxiation
Tabun
Sarin
Soman
Cyclosarin VX

14. Types of Chemical Warfare
Blood agents – absorbed into the blood, fast acting, and potentially lethal
Cyanogen chloride
Hydrogen cyanide

15. Types of Chemical Warfare
Pulmonary agents – “choking agent”; designed to impede the victim’s ability to breathe. Causes build up of fluids in lungs and leads to suffocation. Irritable to eyes, skin, and throat (blurred vision, severe burns, vomiting, coughing)
Chloropicrin
Phosgene
Diphosgene
Chlorine

16. 3 common types of filters:
Gas Masks
3 common types of filters:
Particle filters
Chemical absorption
Chemical reaction to neutralize chemical (Na2S2O3)

18. COCl2

19. C2H2AsCl3

20. Cl3CNO2

21. C4H8Cl2S