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Chemical Weapons: Weapons of Mass Destruction Essay

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Chemical Warfare is not the same as nuclear warfare, or the same as biological warfare. Chemical warfare involves using the deadly properties of chemical substances as weapons.Most weapons used in chemical warfare are considered to be“weapons of mass destruction” or, WMDs, and are not considered to be conventional weapons. Chemical warfare does not depend upon explosive force to neutralize targets; it depends on the chemical properties of a chemical agent weaponized. Defoliants are an example.They are used to kill off vegetation and deny its use of cover by the enemy. “Defoliants can also be used against agriculture and livestock to promote hunger and starvation but with protective equipment, and decontamination measures, the effects of …show more content…

A discovery of Chinese writing dating from the same period contained hundreds of recipes for the production of toxic or irritating smokes for use in war, along with numerous accounts of their uses. (Adrienne Mayor).

In the West, the earliest recorded use of gas warfare dates all the way back to the 5th century, during the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta. The Spartan army placed a burning mixture of wood and sulfur under the walls, hoping that the noxious smoke would impair the Athenians so that they could not resist the assault planed. (Syed, Tanya) Chemical weapons are dangerous agents that come in four categories: choking, blister, blood and nerve. The agents are categorized by their effects on the body. Nerve agents “Inactivate enzyme acetylcholinesterase, preventing the breakdown of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine in the victim's synapses and causing both muscularity and nicotine effects” the signs and symptoms of nerve agents are, miosis (pinpoint pupils), blurred/dim vision, headache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, twitching/fasciculations, dyspepsia, seizures, and loss of consciousness. Symptoms of blood agent poisoning depend on the concentration and the exposure time.

The next type of agent is called blood agents. People killed by blood agents have bright red blood because

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