The Ultimate Guide to Chemical Weapons

Chemical weapons are truly weapons of mass destruction; their capacity for the destruction of human life can be hard to fathom. From the cruelty of Mustard Gas to the lethality of VX, these weapons have made warfare an even more terrible phenomenon. In fact, one of the worst features of the Great War was the widespread use of lethal chemical agents. But what are these chemicals and where did they come from? What classes of chemical weapons are there and how do they work? What is their military purpose? This guide will tell you everything you need to know about chemical agents, from how they work and how they kill, to their current legal status under international law. 0:00 Intro and Foundational Concepts 10:25 The Choking Agents: Phosgene and Chlorine 19:07 The Vesicants: Mustard 38:39 The Blood Agents: Cyanide 43:21 The Nerve Agents: The G Series 59:13 VX and the 'New Boys' (Novichoks) 1:08:29 Gulf War Syndrome and Long Term Health Effects 1:16:23 The Chemical Weapons Convention Further reading (some, but not all, of the sources used in the creation of this video): Army Field Manual, FM 8-9, NATO HANDBOOK ON THE MEDICAL ASPECTS OF NBC DEFENSIVE OPERATIONS, AMedP-6(B), 1996. https://nuke.fas.org/guide/usa/doctrine/dod/fm8-9/toc.htm US Army, MEDICAL MANAGEMENT OF CHEMICAL CASUALTIES HANDBOOK, 2nd Edition, 1995. https://nuke.fas.org/guide/usa/doctrine/army/mmcch/index.html FAS, 'Types of Chemical Weapons', https://fas.org/issues/biological-chemical-and-other-non-nuclear-threats/chemical-weapons-syria/types-chemical-weapons/ Edward Bright Vedder, 2008, The Medical Aspects of Chemical Warfare, Chapter 5, 'Nerve Agents'. https://ke.army.mil/bordeninstitute/published_volumes/chemwarfare/Ch5_pg155-220.pdf Tanos C. C. Franca, Daniel A. S. Kitagawa, Samir F. de A. Cavalcante, Jorge A. V. da Silva, Eugenie Nepovimova and Kamil Kuca, 2019, 'Novichoks: The Dangerous Fourth Generation of Chemical Weapons' in International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 20, 1222. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30862059/ Vladimír Pitschmann, 2014, 'Overall View of Chemical and Biochemical Weapons' in Toxins, June, 6. 1761 - 1784. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4073128/ Gerard J. Fitzgerald, 2008, 'Chemical Warfare and Medical Response During World War I' in Am J Public Health. 2008 April; 98(4): 611–625. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2376985/