Chapter 1 - Introduction

Abstract

For centuries, extremely toxic chemicals have been used in wars, conflicts, terrorist and extremist activities, malicious poisonings, and executions. Natural toxins from plants or animals were one of the earliest forms of chemical warfare agents (CWAs). These were used to coat arrowheads and were commonly referred to as “arrow poisons.” Ancient use of some CWAs and riot control agents (RCAs) dates back to the fifth century bc, during the Peloponnesian War, when the Spartans used smoke from burning coal, sulfur, and pitch to temporarily incapacitate and confuse occupants of Athenian strongholds. The Spartans also used bombs made of sulfur and pitch to overcome the enemy. The Romans used irritant clouds to drive out adversaries from hidden dwellings. In the fifteenth century, Leonardo da Vinci proposed the use of an arsenic sulfide powder as a chemical weapon. Modern use of CWAs and RCAs or incapacitating agents dates back to World War I (WWI).