Chemical Warfare Essay -- essays research papers

Chem WarfareIt was non until the early 1930s that German apothecarys observed that organo-phosphoruscompounds could be poisonous. In 1934, DrGerhard Schrader, a chemist at IG Farben, wasgiven the task of developing a pesticide. dickens historic period later a phosphorus compound withextremely game toxicity was produced for the premiertime. According to contemporary regulations,discoveries with military implications had to bereport to the military authorities, which was alsodone with Schraders discovery. This phosphoruscompound, given the name tabun, was the first ofthe substances later referred to as nerve divisors. Afactory for production of the unused CW agent wasbuilt and a total of 12 000 tonnes of tabun wereproduced during the years 1942-1945. At the endof the war the Allies seized large quantities of thisnerve agent. Up to the end of the war, Schraderand his co-workers synthesized about 2 000 neworgano-phosphorus compounds, including sarin(1938). The third of the " u nstained" nerve agents,soman, was first produced in 1944. These threenerve agents are know as G agents in theAmerican nomenclature. The manufacture of sarin neer started properly and up to 1945 only about0.5 tonne of this nerve agent was produced in apilot plant. Immediately after the war, researchwas mainly concentrated on studies of themechanisms of the nerve agents in order todiscover more than effective forms of protection againstthese new CW agents. The resul...