Chemical Arsenal Research Articles

Současný stav a perspektivy chemického odzbrojení

The commitment of the contracting parties to liquidate chemical weapons and all premises used for their manufacture by the year 2007 is the fundamental pillar of the Agreement un Banning the Development, Manufacture, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and their destruction (hereafter only Agreement). This is the first multilateral disarmament agreement which bans an entire category of weapons of mass destruction while at the same time it stipulates measures to control the way this commitment is being respected. The Agreement is universal since it bans not only the actual utilization or threat to use chemical weapons but also their development, manufacture, acquisition and stockpiling. Under the Agreement, the direct or indirect proliferation of chemical weapons is illegal, as is the utilization of chemical weapons including the possibility of a retaliatory strike, military preparations with the aim of using chemical weapons as well as assistance, support or inciting any type of banned activity.This year, the Agreement will have been in force for three years which is the time limit set for the liquidation of 1% of all stocks of the chemical weapons in the possession of each contracting state. The time limit for the liquidation of alt chemical weapons is ten years from the time the Agreement came in to force.The authors of this essay deal in detail with the present state of the liquidation of the chemical arsenal of the United States and the Russian Federation. They arrive at the conclusion that at present the US is the only state with extensive practical experience with the safe liquidation of chemical weapons, and this without an adverse influence on the environment. Yet it is not possible to say whether the US will be capable of fulfilling the final deadline of the liquidation of chemical weapons. The situation in Russia, on the contrary, is far more complicated since already now the programme of liquidation is at least two years behind schedule. And in view of the shortage of its own financial resources, it is evident that Russia will not be capable of liquidating its chemical weapons stocks within the required time limit without more extensive international assistance.In addition, the authors turn their attention in the essay to a number of other issues, directly connected with the liquidation of chemical weapons, such as the demands of the liquidation of chemical weapons, stipulated by the Agreement, or former methods of the liquidation of chemical weapons and their influence 0n the environment.

Chemical-warfare techniques for insect control: insect 'pests' in Germany before and after World War I.

During World War I, chemical-warfare practices were introduced into economic entomology in Germany. Fritz Haber, 'the father of chemical warfare', realized that Germany could not win the war and thus looked for 'civilian' uses for his chemical arsenal. Before the war, there was a rhetoric of dangerous 'masses' of insects but the large-scale techniques needed to deal with them had not been developed. The gap between rhetoric and practices enabled entomology to integrate chemical weapons into its working methods. This article traces transformations in the ways of seeing insects and their control from the mid-nineteenth century to after World War I.

A convergence of weapons

Over the course of the post‐war era, two types of weapons—weapons of mass destruction (WMD) (traditionally nuclear arms, biological and chemical weapons, and their delivery systems), and conventional arms, such as tanks, artillery, aircraft, and naval vessels—have become separated conceptually by scholars and policy makers. This has, in turn, produced separate research agendas among scholars. Proliferation research focuses on the countries acquiring WMD technologies, on how WMD technologies are acquired, on the impact of such diffusion, and on what might be done about it. Conventional arms research focuses on arms exports and imports—principally the transfer of major weapons by firms and governments, their motivations, and their consequences. The conceptual division between WMD and conventional arms has also produced separate weapons policies, pursuing separate paths. The Gulf War, for example, induced the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) and UNSCOM (United Nations Special Commission) to try to verify the destruction of Iraq's biological and chemical arsenal, and to halt the Iraqi nuclear program, while the U.N. Register of Conventional Arms—which emerged partly from the perceived Iraqi military buildup—focused on “transparency” or on making arms imports and exports more visible. While conventional wisdom often distinguishes “weapons of mass destruction” and “conventional arms,” in reality they are not completely difFerent. Thus, we should analyze the actual differences and similarities between them, the consequences of overfocusing on the differences, and the advantages of focusing more on the similarities.

Chemical Arsenals of Plants Phytochemical Diversity and Redundancy in Ecological Interactions: Recent Advances in Phytochemistry. Vol. 30 J. T. Romeo J. A. Saunders P. Barbosa

Chemical Arsenals of Plants Phytochemical Diversity and Redundancy in Ecological Interactions: Recent Advances in Phytochemistry. Vol. 30 J. T. Romeo J. A. Saunders P. Barbosa

Biological Mass Spectrometry. Basic Information on Nerve Gas and the Use of Sarin by Aum Shinrikyo. Plenary Lecture at the Biological Mass Spectrometry Conference Seto, Aichi, Japan July 3-6, 1995.

Nerve gas is a major chemical agent stockpiled as a chemical arsenal. Nerve gas was used in actual combat in the Iran-Iraq war and also in the insurgent war against Kurd minorities in Iraq. Recently, a nerve gas, sarin, was used massively against a defenseless public in Matsumoto and in Tokyo, causing a large number of deaths and injuries. This marked the first use of chemical weapons in a noncombat situation by a terrorist group. Information on nerve gas is relatively scarce; it is not easily accessible to most people. A systematic summarized article like the one here should help those who are interested in an overview of scientific information on nerve gas.In this review article, an overall view of poisonous gas is first made. Then different aspects of nerve gas are discussed. Toxicology, treatment, detection, decontamination and control of precursors are also reviewed.

Senate committee hears solutions to proliferation of weapons of terror

With the breakup of the Soviet Union, security at sites where weapons of mass destruction are stored has become very lax, making diversion of these weapons to rogue nations and terrorist groups of increasing concern to the U.S. Of particular interest are security and accountability at the former Soviet Union's chemical and biological arsenals, and the effectiveness of arms control accords and nonproliferation regimes in forestalling use of such weapons. These concerns were heightened by five-month study by the Democratic staff of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. Information from this study was revealed at recent hearings chaired by Sen. Sam Nunn (D-Ga.), the panel's ranking minority member. The activities of Japan's Aum Shinrikyo (Supreme Truth)—a religious cult that preached Armageddon between the U.S. and Japan—were spotlighted as, in the words of Kyle B. Olson, a case study in the potential of modern terror. Olson is senior staff member at Tasc Corp.'s Arms ...

Dateline Washington: Clinton Fumbles the CWC

Few people expected Bill Clinton to make foreign policy the centerpiece of his presidency. Reversals in the administrations`s China policy and miscalculations in Bosnia and Somalia led to an impression of weakness in Clinton`s foreign policy. The administration sorely needed a foreign policy success. Yet, for some reason, it passed up the opportunity to gain one with an early effort to secure ratification of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CVC). Heralded as the most sweeping arms control accord since the ratification of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the CWC would compel signatory countries to shed their chemical arsenals and production capabilities. The CWC would disarm the states that possess chemical weapons capacilities within 10 years and would frustrate further proliferation of chemical weapons.

The chemistry of 2-oxazolines (1985–present)

2-Oxazolines have permeated numerous sub-disciplines in synthetic organic chemistry in the 100 years since their discovery. This versatile heterocycle has served as protecting group, coordinating ligand, and activating moiety, often exhibiting all of these characteristics in a single transformation. The well-defined reactivity of chiral oxazolines has given rise to numerous highly efficient strategies for asymmetric synthesis including their use as ligands in asymmetric catalysis. Various unique properties have dictated their use in a multitude of dissimilar applications: as monomers in polymer production, as moderators in analytical processes, and as conformationally rigid peptide mimics in medicinal chemistry. Even natural systems have chosen to incorporate oxazolines into their chemical arsenal, as evidenced by the rapidly growing number of identified natural products and their attendant pharmacological properties. Future studies will undoubtedly uncover unexpected properties and applications. The number of important publications detailing oxazoline-related chemistry is growing, suggesting that research in this area, as in synthetic organic chemistry in general, has yet to mature.

The Myth of Chemical Superweapons

Against civilian populations as well as military forces, the principal threat of gas is to those without protection, as in the poorer nations of the Third World, where defenses are least likely to be available. The 1991 Gulf war apparently ended without the use of chemicals except in mines. If Iraq had used its chemical arsenal, the high state of antichemical preparedness of US and other coalition forces would have provided a high degree of protection. Perhaps these weapons did their greatest harm by instilling fear in civilians and soldiers, a dread perpetuated by ill-informed reports that ignored or underestimated the effectiveness of modern antichemical protection.

Hurdles to chemical arms ban analyzed

Several factors impinging on the prospects for early completion of a worldwide ban on chemical weapons were analyzed at a symposium last month during the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science held in New Orleans. These factors include a new rationale for chemical arms by the U.S. military, difficulties of knowing for sure which nations have chemical weapons, problems facing any international agreement in the Middle East, and special concerns of developing countries. Negotiations on a multilateral chemical arms treaty have long been under way at the United Nations Conference on Disarmament in Geneva. Considerable progress has been made in recent years, but there are still some knotty problems. At the symposium, Harvard biochemistry professor Matthew S. Meselson expressed concern that the U.S. military is now arguing that it must continue to modernize its chemical arsenal as a deterrent to the use of such weapons against its forces by Third ...

Geographical variation in defensive chemicals from pacific coast dorid nudibranchs and some related marine molluscs

1. Comparison of the chemical constituents of geographically diverse collections of six dorid nudibranchs has revealed that those species that are capable of de novo biosynthesis of defensive metabolites always produce the same array of chemicals. 2. Conversely, those species that acquire chemicals from their sponge diet have a variable chemical arsenal. 3. It is proposed that chemical consistency be used as an indicator of the origin of chemicals in the defensive arsenal of dorid nudibranchs.

The Protective Action of a Higher Plant Toxic Product

mong the thousands of secondary metabolites that underlie the characteristic properties of higher plants are a diverse assemblage of potentially toxic allelochemicals. Allelochemicals are those natural products that affect the growth, health, behavior, or population biology of members of other species (Whittaker and Feeny 1971). There is convincing evidence that these toxic natural products constitute the chemical defense arsenal of higher plants (Feeny 1975, 1976; Rosenthal and Janzen 1979, and Whittaker and Feeny 1971). They render protection against herbivores, particularly insects, molluscs, and many small rodents; pathogenic fungi, bacteria, and viruses; and even other plants with which they compete (Bell 1978, Harborne 1977, Rice 1974). That allelochemicals may impart a selective advantage to plants is suggested by such evidence as their potent toxicity to specific herbivores. These substances can inhibit, repulse, and even kill nonadapted organisms that may otherwise feed upon or compete with the producing plant. Plants or plant parts containing toxic compounds are attacked by a limited number of herbivores; thus, these compounds have demonstrable effectiveness and survival value in limiting herbivore attack on plants. Some her-

The effects of in vitro exposure to the neurotoxins sarin (GB) and soman (GD) on unscheduled DNA synthesis by rat hepatocytes

Large amounts of the nerve agents, sarin (GB) and soman (GD), are part of the military chemical arsenal and small amounts are on hand in numerous U.S. research laboratories. Thus, there is a potential for accidental occupational exposure to these compounds. As part of a study of mutagenic, reproductive and subchronic effects of these agents, we measured unscheduled DNA repair synthesis in isolated rat hepatocytes after exposure to GBI (stabilized with tributylamine), GBII (stabilized with diisopropylcarbodiimide) or GD. This was done to determine whether these agents or their metabolites directly damage DNA or their related proteins. Each agent was assayed at least once over concentrations ranging from 3.0 × 10 −4 to 2.4 × 10 −3 M for GBI and GBII and 2.3 × 10 −4 to 1.8 × 10 −3 for GD and at least 3 times at 2.4 × 10 −3M for GBI and GBII and 1.8 × 10 −3 M for GD, added as 20% of the culture medium. In all assays, no increase in the level of DNA synthesis was observed. On the contrary, significant decreases in repair synthesis were seen in hepatocytes exposed to GBI or GBII. The decreases in DNA synthesis seen in response to GD were less marked and not significant. These observations were not related to cell death, since 8 of 10 assays performed showed no significant decrease in the amount of DNA present in cultures exposed to the nerve agents compared to the negative controls. Our results suggest that the agents GBI, GBII and GD may either inhibit the repair of DNA or protect DNA from damage.

Pesticide Resistance and Public Policy

n the euphoria following the early success of DDT, some insect control specialists speculated publicly that they might soon have nothing left to control. Others, however, warned that insects and other pests would become resistant to the arsenal of chemicals used against them. warnings may have seemed alarmist as long as pesticide companies continued to develop new chemicals rapidly, but discovery of new pesticides is becoming more difficult and much more costly: As one industry researcher put it, The easy chemistry has been used up. Thus, as pests continue to evolve resistance to existing chemicals, the development of replacement compounds is slowing. To protect crops, livestock, and public health from the damage and illness brought on by resistant pests, researchers are now developing resistance management, which seeks to prevent, delay, or reverse the evolution of resistance by a variety of chemical and ecological tactics. Indeed, because chemical pesticides are likely to continue as the mainstay of pest management technologies, resistance management may become the key to continuing effective pest control. Its success will depend on how

Oil on the Waters: Modest Progress in Cleanup Technology

In March 1967 the oil tanker Torrey Canyon rushed into the rocks off the southwest tip of England and ripped open. Some 100,000 tons of crude oil spewed into the sea. To save resort beaches in England and northern France, 2.5 million gallons of detergents were dumped into the waters and on the shores. Fifty thousand sea birds drowned in the oil or were poisoned by the detergents. Sudsy seawater killed seaweed, crabs, starfish and lobsters, and left countless creatures without legs and claws. Ultimately the British Royal Air Force bombed the hemorrhaging tanker. She sank beneath the sea. With soaring international demands for energy and petroleum transport, it was clear the Torrey Canyon would not be the last tanker to crash. Who would meet future disasters, and how? In the United States, the Federal Government and the oil and tanker industries launched efforts to devise effective and nontoxic techniques to clean up oil spills. Today, five years and millions of Federal and industrial dollars later, scientists in the field agree the results are beginning to show. Five years ago, about the best means of cleaning up oil was to put straw on it, then scoop up the oily straw *by hand or with pitchforks. Now industry -backed by government or industry funds-has devised an arsenal of oil cleanup chemicals. Thin-layer chemicals can be used to herd oil together and to thicken it, so it can be scooped from the water. Although straw is still widely used as an absorbent, because it is cheap and easily available, chemicals are available as absorbents too. Still other chemicals have been found that disperse oil throughout the water. Other chemicals show promise as oil-burning agents. If five years ago straw was the best means of picking up oil, the best means of containing oil before pickup was a hastily rigged Navy boom. Oil drums were fastened to each side of sections of plywood. A skirt hanging between the drums scooped oil off the water. Such a boom was makeshift and built on location after a spill occurred. Now booms are commercially built and available before a spill takes place. Skimmers have been devised to remove oil from the water after the oil has been contained with chemicals and a boom. Some skimmers are paddlewheels that skim thickened oil off the water. Others are conveyor belts, coated with absorbent materials. which dip into the water and pick up the oil. Still others are large metal disks that rotate down into the oil. The U.S. Coast Guard has almost finished developing booms for use on the high seas. It is now working on an air-delivery capability for booms. It is also developing high-sea oil-skimmer devices. They will be tested later this year. It is researching means of detecting oil spills electronically, rather than visually, from airplanes. Such a device could be used in all kinds of weather. Because of detergents' past disastrous effects on wildlife, the use of detergents for dispersing oil has fallen off greatly. Says L. P. Haxby of the Shell Oil Co. in Houston: 'When we first embarked on oil spill cleanup procedures through the American Petroleum Institute and the Coast Guard, people asked, 'Haven't you found a solution for oil spills yet?' Well, one of the first things we have learned is that there is no one, single solution . . . nor a single piece of equipment for every spill. What approach is taken to a spill depends on the cleanup equipment available at the nearest Coast Guard station or oil or tanker company headquarters. The Coast Guard is stockpiling equipment in various areas so that it can be flown to the scene of disaster. A lot of this equipment is just coming into inventory now, reports Robert J. Ketchel of Coast Guard headquarters in Washington. Some of it is still in the research and development phase. The Environmental Protection Agency has not required or recommended a particular cleanup approach 'because it depends on the location, types of equipment available, sea condition, weather, type of oil, and so forth, says Peter B. Lederman of EPA'S Edison, N.J., facility. But, he says, if at all possible, the EPA prefers that oil be contained and removed from the water rather than dispersed throughout EPA

EFFECT OF CHEMICAL WARFARE AGENTS ON THE HUMAN EYE

With the possibility of gas warfare, it becomes apparent that clinical investigation of chemical agents so employed and their effects on the human eye is of paramount importance. Because of the paucity of literature on the subject, particularly in relation to the human eye, and the urgency for investigation of many aspects of the problem, it is deemed advisable to present these clinical observations as a basis for further studies. This paper was stimulated by the work of Scherling, Overholt and Stahmer 1 on the treatment of burns of the skin due to chemical agents and is part of a program of clinical investigation of chemical warfare agents at a station hospital. The material for this study consisted of personnel at a chemical warfare arsenal. Prior to the ophthalmologist's arrival at the station hospital, 87 persons with chemical burns of the eye had been inpatients. Of the total number of