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The Effects of Chemical & Bio Hazard Weapons

Chemical and biological weapons have long been used as weapons in war. Chemicals can cause death or injury, such as mustard gas in World War I. Biological pathogens such as bacteria, viruses, fungi and toxins can cause disease.

  1. Chemical Weapons History

    • The Greeks used sulfur mixes to produce fumes in 431 B.C. The First Hague Peace Appeal in 1899 prohibited the use of "asphyxiating or deleterious" gases. In 1915, the Germans used canisters of poison gas to kill and injure French troops. Mustard gas is estimated to have killed or injured almost two million people in 1917. The first nerve gas, Tabun, was discovered in 1936. The development of Sarin followed.

    Chemical Persistence

    • Chemical weapons are classified as persistent or non-persistent. Non-persistent agents disperse within minutes or hours. Persistent agents can remain for up to a week. Sarin, for example, can persist for one to 10 hours, while mustard gas can last for up to eight weeks.

    Chemical Physical Effects

    • Chemical weapons may cause nausea and vomiting, irritate the respiratory tract, cause cornea damage, destroy tissues, cause skin blistering, injure the lungs, cause systemic damage and injure the blood vessels.

    Biological Weapons History

    • In 300 B.C. the Greeks polluted their enemies' drinking water with the corpses of dead animals. The same tactic was used in medieval times when catapults were used to hurl corpses into besieged castles. In the 18th and 19th centuries, corpses carrying diseases were used to introduce cholera and typhus. In the 1930s, France developed potato killers, and Iraq manufactured wheat smut fungus in the 1970s.

    Types of Biological Weapons

    • Some of the bacteria that could be used as weapons cause bubonic plague, anthrax and cholera. Viruses include smallpox, dengue fever and yellow fever. Rickettsia are diseases such as typhus and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. Toxins such as botulism, tetanus and diphtheria could be used as weapons, as could some types of fungi.

    Biological Persistence and Effects

    • Persistence of biological weapons varies. There is usually an incubation period which can be unpredictable. The effects also depend upon the disease itself, the immune system of the infected, sanitary conditions, medical treatment available, weather and other factors.

    Disposal

    • Disposal of chemical weapons is problematic. After World War II, the Allies dumped Germany's arsenal in the ocean. Ocean dumping has been the method of choice many times since. The US and other countries have stockpiled biological weapons. The long-term effects of unused weapons is unknown.

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