Another Man’s Poison

Introduction

If the media’s assessment is accurate, the United Nations has been undergoing a subtle transformation from an organization designed to strengthen peace by promoting international cooperation, to the new sheriff in town. There are stories everywhere from UN investigations into shady software firms to discrete hints that the new UN Secretary-General doesn’t agree with his respected predecessor that the UN has no legal or logical reason to take part in counter-terrorism operations.

However, regardless of the veracity of these stories, there are some cases that truly merit the attention of the UN, whether it styles itself as a humanitarian organization or an international law enforcement authority. One of them is the case of the assassination of Mr. Kim Jong Nam. While the media has spent countless man-hours on the analysis of who could be responsible for the crime, the rest of the world is worried about a far more relevant aspect of the case: Apparently, it is very easy to obtain a military-grade weapon & use it on an unsuspecting victim even in a crowded location.

While the world waits for the answer to how such a thing is even possible, given below is some basic information about some of the most dangerous nerve agents & chemical weapons known to man, courtesy Wikipedia:

VX
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VX_(nerve_agent)

VX is an extremely toxic man-made chemical compound in the organophosphorus class, specifically, a thiophosphonate. In the class of nerve agents, it was developed for military use in chemical warfare after translation of earlier discoveries of organophosphate toxicity in pesticide research. In its pure form, VX is a colourless, mobile, relatively non-volatile liquid, taking on a yellowish to brown color when impure. Because of its low volatility, VX persists in environments where it is dispersed.

VX, for “”venomous agent X”, is the best known of Tammelin’s esters, named for the member of the Swedish National Defence Research Institute who first studied them; now one of a broader V-series of agents, they are classified as nerve agents & have been used as a chemical weapon in various recorded deadly attacks. VX fatalities occur with exposure to low to tens of milligram quantities via inhalation or absorption through skin; VX is thus more potent than sarin, another nerve agent with a similar mechanism of action. On such exposure, these agents severely disrupt the body’s signalling between the nervous & muscular systems, leading to a prolonged neuromuscular blockade, flaccid paralysis of all the muscles in the body including the diaphragm, & death by asphyxiation.

The danger of VX, in particular, lies in direct exposure to the agent persisting where it was dispersed, & not through its evaporating & being distributed as a vapour (i.e., it is not a “vapour hazard”). VX is considered an area denial weapon due to these physical & biochemical characteristics. As a chemical weapon, it is categorised as a weapon of mass destruction & is banned by the Chemical Weapons Convention of 1993, where production & stockpiling of VX exceeding 100 grams (3.53 oz) per year is outlawed. The only exception is for “research, medical or pharmaceutical purposes outside a single small-scale facility in aggregate quantities not exceeding 10 kg [22 lb] per year per facility”.

VM & VE
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VM_(nerve_agent)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VE_(nerve_agent)

VM (Edemo) & VE (S-(Diethylamino)ethyl O-ethyl ethylphosphonothioate) are “V-series” nerve agents closely related to the better-known VX nerve agent.

Like most of the agents in the V-series (with the exception of VX), VM & VE have not been extensively studied outside of military science. Little is known about these chemical compounds other than their chemical formulae.

It is commonly theorised that the so-called “second-generation” V series agents came from a cold war era Russian chemical weapons development program. They may have been developed sometime between 1950 & 1990. They have similar lethal dose levels to VX (between 10–50 mg) & have similar symptoms & method of action to other nerve agents that act on cholinesterase. The treatment remains the same, but the window for effectively treating second generation V series seizures is shorter. In addition to the standard seizures, some of the second generation V series agents are known to cause comas.

Cyclosarin
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyclosarin

Cyclosarin or GF (cyclohexyl methylphosphonofluoridate) is an extremely toxic substance used as a chemical weapon. It is a member of the G-series family of nerve agents, a group of chemical weapons discovered & synthesised by a German team led by Dr. Gerhard Schrader. The major nerve gases are the G agents, sarin (GB), soman (GD), tabun (GA), & the V agents such as VX. The original agent, tabun, was discovered in Germany in 1936 in the process of work on organophosphorus insecticides. Next came sarin, soman & finally the most toxic, cyclosarin, a product of commercial insecticide laboratories prior to World War II.

As a chemical weapon, it is classified as a weapon of mass destruction by the United Nations. Pursuant to UN Resolution 687 its production & stockpiling was outlawed globally by the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) of 1993, although Egypt, Israel, North Korea & South Sudan have not ratified the CWC (thus not outlawing their own stockpiling of chemical weapons).

Soman
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soman

Soman, or GD (systematic name: O-Pinacolyl methylphosphonofluoridate), is an extremely toxic chemical substance. It is a nerve agent, interfering with normal functioning of the mammalian nervous system by inhibiting the enzyme cholinesterase. It is an inhibitor of both acetylcholinesterase & butyrylcholinesterase. As a chemical weapon, it is classified as a weapon of mass destruction by the United Nations according to UN Resolution 687. Its production is strictly controlled, & stockpiling is outlawed by the Chemical Weapons Convention of 1993 where it is classified as a Schedule 1 substance. Soman was the third of the so-called G-series nerve agents to be discovered along with GA (tabun), GB (sarin), & GF (cyclosarin).

It is a volatile, corrosive, & colorless liquid with a faint odor when pure. More commonly, it is a yellow to brown color & has a strong odor described as similar to camphor. The LCt50 for soman is 70 mg·min/m3 in humans. It is both more lethal & more persistent than sarin or tabun, but less so than cyclosarin.

GD can be thickened for use as a chemical spray using an acryloid copolymer. It can also be deployed as a binary chemical weapon; its precursor chemicals are methylphosphonyl difluoride & a mixture of pinacolyl alcohol & an amine.

Sarin
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarin

Sarin, or GB (G-series, ‘B’), is a colorless, odorless liquid, used as a chemical weapon owing to its extreme potency as a nerve agent. It is generally considered a weapon of mass destruction. Production & stockpiling of sarin was outlawed as of April 1997 by the Chemical Weapons Convention of 1993, & it is classified as a Schedule 1 substance. In June 1994, the UN Special Commission on Iraqi disarmament destroyed the nerve agent sarin under Security Council resolution 687 (1991) concerning the disposal of Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction.

Sarin is an organophosphorus compound with the formula (CH3)2CHO]CH3P(O)F. It can be lethal even at very low concentrations, where death can occur within 1 to 10 minutes after direct inhalation of a lethal dose, due to suffocation from lung muscle paralysis, unless some antidotes, typically atropine & an oxime, such as pralidoxime, are quickly administered. People who absorb a non-lethal dose, but do not receive immediate medical treatment, may suffer permanent neurological damage.

Tabun
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabun_(nerve_agent)

Tabun or GA is an extremely toxic chemical substance. It is a clear, colorless, & tasteless liquid with a faint fruity odor. It is classified as a nerve agent because it fatally interferes with normal functioning of the mammalian nervous system. Its production is strictly controlled & stockpiling outlawed by the Chemical Weapons Convention of 1993. Tabun is the first of the G-series nerve agents along with GB (sarin), GD (soman) & GF (cyclosarin).

Although pure tabun is clear, less-pure tabun may be brown. It is a volatile chemical, although less so than either sarin or soman.

Tabun can be destroyed with bleaching powder (calcium hypochlorite), though the poisonous gas cyanogen chloride is produced.