Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Biological weapons and biological warfare
Chemical and biological weapons types and implications
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Biological weapons and biological warfare
Biological & Chemical Weapons Chaos, fear, and death. Those three words are what most people’s first thoughts are when they see the destructive offspring of either Biological or Chemical Weapons. These Weapons of Mass Destruction (also known as WMD’s) are actually considered the deadliest weapons of all time to not only humans but also to other animals, and plants. Biological and Chemical Warfare has become a major threat not only to the safety to the people of America, but also on the frontlines across the world but, that in order to fix these that the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention and Chemical Weapons Convention could do is to make mandatory background checks for anyone who buys any additives that are in any Bio/ Chemical weapons, mandatory safety exercises, and make bans heavier on the use of these weapons in war. What is Biological Warfare? Biological Warfare is a way to cause chaos, fear, pain, and suffering to the enemy through the use of natural toxins. Biological Warfare has been around for a very long time ever since the first act of chemical warfare in 1000 BC, and even since America’s Revolutionary War. But, the first recorded events were in the times of Ancient Greece and Julius Caesar’s Roman Empire, for example, Mark Antony would hurl barrels of venomous snakes over onto enemy ships in Naval Battles, also Roman/Greek Officers would poison the rivers leading into the city they were invading, fourteenth and fifteenth centuries by catapulting corpses caused and still carrying smallpox, and in America’s Revolutionary War British officers would hand out smallpox infected blankets to the Native Americans. What is a biological weapon? A biological weapon is the use of toxins to cause disease in humans (also an... ... middle of paper ... ...very painfully (obviously). Cyanide acts quickly, but only large amounts are deadly. Cyanide poisoning can be treated with inhaled amyl nitrate, intravenous sodium nitrite, and sodium thiosulfate. Then there is the most commonly known nerve agent, Sarin. Sarin is clear, colorless, tasteless, and lastly odorless. It's a highly unstable chemical and is for the most part an inhalational hazard. The effects of Sarin poisoning include having a runny nose, tightness in the chest, breathing difficulty, and nausea and vomiting, reflex bowel movement and urination, unintentional muscle movements, intense migraines, confusion, and tiredness. If untreated, victims stop breathing and die. Antidotes for Sarin when affected are atropine and pralidoxmine. Eyes and skin should be flushed thoroughly if exposed. And lastly, there is the most commonly known choking agent, chlorine.
Guillemin, J. (2005). Biological weapons: From the invention of state-sponsored programs to contemporary bioterrorism Columbia University Press.
As we move into the Twentieth Century the similarities are almost identical. The First World War has shaped not only modern warfare but even produced global attention to the brutal and inhumane death toll of the war. As stated in the Geneva Protocol, which prohibited the use of chemical weapons in warfare, which was signed in 1925? While this was a welcomed step, the Protocol had a number of significant short comings, including the fact that it did not prohibit the development, production or stockpiling of chemical weapons.
This experiments involves various chemicals that could potentially be lethal if not handle carefully. Short exposure to maleic anhydride could cause serious residual injury. Direct contact must be avoided, and proper safety equipment should be wore while handling. 2, 3-dimethyl-1, 3-butadiene is flammable
The two chemical weapons that were used were: nerve agent and mustard gas. Nerve agent has two main classes that are Class G and Class V. Class V is more new, however less fatal. The specific nerve agent used by the Iraqis is Cyclosarin. Cyclosarin is an extremely toxic substance used as a chemical weapon, which is a member of Class G. Cyclosarin is the most dangerous gas out of both classes. It is known to have a sweet smell and is also flammable unlike other nerve gases. Mustard gas on the other hand is yellow and smells like garlic. Both gases cause death in minutes and have long lasting effects. These can include diseases and other horrible problems. Many of these diseases cannot be cured, for the cells have been damaged and cannot be repaired.
"Chemical Warfare Agents - Resources on the health effects from chemical weapons, emergency response & treatment, counterterrorism, and emergency preparedness.au.af." Specialized Information Services - Reliable information on toxicology, environmental health, chemistry, HIV/AIDS, and minority health. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 May 2010.
“Johns Hopkins Working Group on Civilian Biodefense Says Botulinum Toxin is a Major Biological Weapons Threat.” Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Johns Hopkins University, 28 Feb. 2001. Web. 26 Jan. 2014.
In the book All Quiet on the Western Front the Author Erich Maria Remarque portrays the use of Poisonous Gas and also describes the gas and the effects it produces. He portrays it as a deadly weapon of war. During World war 1 both the Germans and the allies go through three stages of poisonous gas 1414, Mustard Gas, then they used tear gas.
Fries, A. A., & West, C. J. (1921) The 'Standard' of the 'Standard'. Chemical warfare. New York [etc.] :. McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc.. Heller, C. E. (1985).
The Al Qaeda and Its Attempt to Use Chemical and Biological Warfare as a Means of Attack
Poison gas was perhaps the most feared weapon out of all. Created to overcome the long stalemate style of trench warfare, its purpose was to draw out soldiers hiding in the trenches. One side would throw the poison gas into the enemy trenches and they would either wait for their enemy to come out into open fire or perish in the trenches. The first poison gas used in battle was chlorine at the start of the Second Battle of Ypres on April 22, 1915 by the Germans. Shortly after, followed the phosgene. The effects of these gases were ghastly. Chlorine was the most deadly as "within seconds of inhaling its vapor, it destroys the victim's respiratory organs, bringing on choking attacks" (Duffy). Phosgene had similar effects, except the fact that the effects started kicking in after 48 hours of inhalation. In September 1917, the Germans introduced the mustard gas or Yperite which was contained in artillery shells against the Russians at Riga. Those exposed t...
Chemical warfare has been used in war for thousands of years as a means to lethally fight the battle. Just to give a few examples of the devastation, chlorine and phosgene gases were used during World War I and were dispensed from canisters causing around 90,000 deaths and over one million casualties during war (Mass, 2013). Apparatus for dispensing these weapons developed tremendously during the first half of the twentieth century, increasing these weapons’ alarming ability to kill. The United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War maintained massive stockpiles of chemical weapons enough to eliminate a large amount of the human race and animal life on Earth. In 1980, Iraq used chemical weapons on Iran during war and in 1988; Iraq used mustard gas and nerve agents on the Kurdish civilians in Northern Iraq. Pictures of the horrific attack on the Kurdish civilians were released and the world was stunned by the horrendous devastation.
“Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or Other Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare.” Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or Other Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare. Geneva: n.p., 1925. Un.org. United Nations. Web. 21 May 2013.
What is means is that any weapons that are explosive in nature (i.e. grenade, rocket propelled grenade, bomb, rocket, mine), any weapons other than a shotgun or shotgun shell approved by the attorney general to be suitable for sporting purposes that have a bore of greater than 0.5” are considered Weapons of Mass Destruction under United States Law. It also refers to weapons that use chemicals to cause serious bodily harm or even death (i.e. sarin, VX, mustard gas), any weapon that use a living virus or bacteria to cause bodily harm or death (i.e. Anthrax), and finally nuclear weapons that emit and/or release radiation or radioactive levels dangerous to human life (“What Are Weapons of Mass Destruction”), are all considered weapons of mass destruction. Although, w...
Metabolizing of a poison was an early problem for Norris and Gettler, especially when working with cyanide, one of the many poisons they analyzed. When inhaled,
...cy on biological warfare. During his visit to Fort Detrick, he announced that the United States would terminate all research on biological weapons. By the year 1972 the United States had completely destroyed all biological weapon stockpile. In return of this act the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention was held, As a result of 118 countries signed a agreeing not to develop, produce, or stockpile any form of biological weapon(Mayer p4). Unfortunately despite many laws passed over time, few countries have abided by them. Evidence of this came in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s there were reports that the Soviet Union was using biological weapons in Laos, Kampuchea, and Afghanistan (Mayer p 4).