Types of Chemical Weapons

              All chemical weapons fall into the group of chemical agents. A chemical agent is “intended for use in military operations to kill, seriously injure, or incapacitate man because of its physiological effects.” (HILMAS et al. 2008: 10)These weapons fall into different categories depending on what type of destructive abilities they contain. There are seven categories of chemical agents. The seven categories are antipersonnel agents, choking agents, blood agents, vesicants, non-irritating incapacitates, nerve agents, anti-plant agents.

Antipersonnel agents consisted of compounds intended to make the target sneeze and tear. This caused temporary blindness or tearing, sneezing, shortness of breath and a discharge of blood from the nose and mouth.

Next we will discuss choking agents. This agent’s gas causes immediate severe damage to the respiratory system ending in fatality. This damaged is accompanied in some cases by a buildup of fluid that suffocates the victim. The lethality depends on how close the person is to the area of the gas’s release.

Blood agents attack the respiratory functions in the body. When attacked they cause coughing accompanied by frothy mucus and saliva. This inability to breathe is followed by convulsions, cardiac arrest, coma and death. In minor doses the symptoms are less severe. These include dizziness and headache.

Vesicants are chemical weapons designed specifically to attack any exposed and moist skin. This weapon creates a painful blistering effect on the exposed skin. If inhaled in high doses it will cause the same blistering effects internally in the respiratory areas. This would result in death immediately or after the course of four or five days. This gas could also attack the victim’s eyes causing blindness.

Non-irritating incapacitates are used to cause confusion. One of the only non-irritating incapacitates has been tested for warfare is 3-quinuclidinyl benzilate or BZ for short. The effects of this drug are not always consistent but can be in the range of dehydration, hallucination, distorted vision, slurred speech, lethargic behavior, loss of motor skills and incoherent thought. The stupor that this compound creates was intended, like mentioned earlier, to cause confusion in the ranks, and make nonviolent capture of hostiles possible.

            Nerve agents are one of the scariest chemical agents. They are undetectable by the human senses and therefore make it very difficult know if you have been exposed. Nerve agents have a large range of effects. They can be mild such as dizziness and confusion. In stronger doses, it progresses to twitching, vomiting, paralysis and death. Another interesting reaction to nerve agents is paresthesia, a sense of burning or itching feeling on the skin.

  The name anti-plant agent does  just as the name states. These are chemicals used to destroy foliage that enemies use as cover. It also has other uses, such as destroying enemy food sources and eliminating plants for illegal sale like marijuana and coca. Effects of these chemical on humans is a burning and itching feeling on the skin, paralysis, restricted breathing and lesions. These effects do not even include the long lasting effects to exposure such as, permanent nerve damage, tumors, birth defects in child from parents exposed to nerve agents and leukemia. These anti-plant agents are similar to the insecticides and anti-fungal products used by many farms today. This agent has been proven to have significantly lowered sperm count in males that have worked on agricultural farms. One example is the ongoing lawsuit between Standard Fruit and two thousand of its employees over alleged sterility as an effect of its chemical sprayings.