Injuriants or Substances of Mutilating Effect
A distinct group of non-lethal chemical weapons is formed by chemical agents that cause severe or irreversible damage to the human body. In the USSR, they were traditionally referred to as "Substances of Mutilating Effect". Experts in the field of chemical and biological weapons disarmament, such as Julian P. Robinson, proposed the term injuriants (from 'injury' — damage, harm) for casualty-producing chemical agents. Injuriants are chemicals that can impose a risk of long-term injury without necessarily posing a high risk of immediate death.[5,7]
There is no unified classification of injuriants. J.P. Robinson (2013) considers injuriants to be toxic substances that cause prolonged vision loss, chemical sterilization, and carcinogens such as aflatoxin[5]. According to the Soviet classification, substances of mutilating effect include all mustard gases, lewisite, mycotoxin T-2, and correspondingly all substances with similar effects (see table).
| Vesicant | Average (minimum) dose causing a vesicle |
Note | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sesquimustard (Agent Q) | 0.3 µg | VD50, solution in dioxane | [1] |
| Pederin (Toxin of the beetle genus Paederus) | 1 µg | Causes tissue necrosis | |
| Mycotoxin T-2 (Toxin of the fungus Fusarium) | 2 µg | ||
| O-mustard (Agent T) | 4 µg | VD50 | [1] |
| Lewisite (L) | 14 µg | [1] | |
| Sulfur mustard (HD) | 32 µg | VD50 | [1] |
| Nitrogen mustard (HN-3) | 70 µg | VD50 | [1] |
| Phenyldichloroarsine (PD) | 100 µg | VDmin | [3] |
| Fumaronitrile | 150–200 µg | VD50, solution in acetonitrile | [4] |
| Phosgene oxime (CX) | 200 µg | per 1 cm2 | [2] |
| Methyldichloroarsine (MD) | 3000 µg | VDmin | [3] |
VD50 — median effective dose causing vesicle formation in 50% of cases
VDmin — minimum dose of a substance causing vesicle formation
Dioxin stands somewhat apart, as it is also considered a potential agent for ecological warfare. It can be used to cause long-term and irreversible contamination of vast areas, water sources, agricultural land, and livestock. Substances causing debilitating effects include toxins that lead to incurable or difficult-to-treat diseases, such as neurological disorders (MPTP, tri-o-cresyl phosphate), and also, theoretically, cardiac conditions (Moniliformin,[12] Monensin[11]), cancer (Aflatoxin),[9,10] diabetes and others. Additionally, sound and laser weapons are sometimes classified as injuriants.
Urticants I. Phosgene Oxime
The category of urticant chemical warfare agents (urticants) encompasses several halogenated oximes, with phosgene oxime (CX) being the most extensively studied compound. Phosgene oxime exhibits a unique combination of properties characteristic of three distinct categories of chemical agents: irritants, pulmonary agents, and vesicants. The term "urticant" derives from the Latin "urtica" (nettle), referring to these compounds' capacity to induce dermatological lesions similar to nettle stings....
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Urticants II. Nettle Chemical Agents
In addition to phosgene oxime, other oximes were studied as Nettle Gases, which caused instant burning pain upon contact with skin and mucous membranes. German intelligence believed that this group of CW agents was being actively studied in the USSR before the World War II.[94] However, for various reasons, none of them were ever adopted for use...
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Vesicants of Different Groups
In 1942, the head of the NDRC informed his British counterpart that tests on KB-16 had shown a "high degree of toxicity" and that a concentration of 30 mg/mм3 would incapacitate victims and produce death within ten days. [5] Soon after, the Americans regretted their candor, as they wanted the development of the new, promising chemical warfare agent to be conducted exclusively by the U.S. and under strict secrecy...
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Вещества вызывающие временную слепоту
Ядовитые дымы, ослепляющие противника, были хорошо известны и применялись полководцами древности на протяжении тысячелетий. Древнеиндийский трактат Артхашастра (VI–III век до н. э.) содержит рецепты ядовитых дымов вызывающих слепоту. Кроме магических компонентов, таких как голова змеи, хвост павлина или желчь коричневой коровы, в их состав входили ядовитые растения из семейства молочайных (Euphorbiaceae)...
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Химическая кастрация
14 июля 1933 года, через полгода после того, как Адольф Гитлер стал канцлером Третьего Рейха, в Германии был принят закон «О предотвращении генетически дефективного потомства» согласно которому принудительной стерилизации должны были подвергнуться все граждане страдающие «слабоумием», психическими болезнями, алкоголизмом и еще целым рядом заболеваний, многие из которых никогда не считались наследственными...
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