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Forensic Science Review Jul 2014Chemical weapons have given the human experience of warfare a uniquely terrifying quality that has inspired a general repugnance and led to periodic attempts to ban... (Review)
Review
Chemical weapons have given the human experience of warfare a uniquely terrifying quality that has inspired a general repugnance and led to periodic attempts to ban their use. Nevertheless, since ancient times, toxic agents have been consistently employed to kill and terrorize target populations. The evolution of these weapons is examined here in ways that may allow military, law enforcement, and scientific professionals to gain a perspective on conditions that, in the past, have motivated their use - both criminally and as a matter of national policy during military campaigns. Special emphasis is placed on the genocidal use of chemical weapons by the regime of Saddam Hussein, both against Iranians and on Kurdish citizens of his own country, during the Iran-Iraq War of 1980-88. The historical development of chemical weapons use is summarized to show how progressively better insight into biochemistry and physiology was adapted to this form of warfare. Major attributes of the most frequently used chemical agents and a description of how they affected military campaigns are explained. Portions of this review describing chemical-casualty care devote particular focus to Iranian management of neurotoxic (nerve) agent casualties due to the unique nature of this experience. Both nerve and blistering "mustard" agents were used extensively against Iranian forces. However, Iran is the only nation in history to have sustained large-scale attacks with neurotoxic weapons. For this reason, an understanding of the successes and failures of countermeasures to nerve-agent use developed by the Iranian military are particularly valuable for future civil defense and military planning. A detailed consideration of these strategies is therefore considered. Finally, the outcomes of clinical research into severe chronic disease triggered by mustard-agent exposure are examined in the context of the potential of these outcomes to determine the etiology of illness among US and Allied veterans of the 1991 Persian Gulf War.
PubMed: 26227026
DOI: No ID Found -
Journal of the Royal Army Medical Corps Dec 2010The combination of trauma and poisoning is a situation likely to be faced by a deployed force at some point. This article provides practical advice on how to deal with... (Review)
Review
The combination of trauma and poisoning is a situation likely to be faced by a deployed force at some point. This article provides practical advice on how to deal with poisoned patients without deviating from the concept of damage control resuscitation. The constraints of limited diagnostics, both at the scene and clinically, and lack of antidotal therapy are fundamental to the practice of clinical toxicology. Some of the specific therapies such as atropine and oximes were not evaluated prior to their introduction and there are few randomised controlled trials of poisoned patients. Most of the diagnoses will be made on clinical grounds and most of the therapy will be supportive; this article aims to reassure military anaesthetists in the process of dealing with the poisoned trauma patient.
Topics: Anesthesiology; Burns; Carbon Monoxide Poisoning; Chemical Warfare; Chlorine; Cyanides; Humans; Military Medicine; Phosgene; Poisoning; Smoke Inhalation Injury
PubMed: 21302652
DOI: 10.1136/jramc-156-04s-11 -
European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry Aug 2008In a study of the importance of a basic amino function in erythromycin derived antibiotics, N'-demethylazithromycin 2',3'-carbamate-11,12-carbonate has been prepared in...
In a study of the importance of a basic amino function in erythromycin derived antibiotics, N'-demethylazithromycin 2',3'-carbamate-11,12-carbonate has been prepared in six steps from (9E)-erythromycin A 9-oxime. Reactions with phosgene provided a cyclic carbonate from the vicinal 11,12-diol, and a cyclic 2',3'-carbamate from the vicinal dimethylamino-alcohol moiety of the desosamine sugar. Further transformations provided N,N'-di(demethyl)azithromycin 2',3'-carbamate-11,12-carbonate N-methylated at position 9a. The activity of the oxime was reduced in comparison with the parent azithromycin. Hence the N,N-dimethylamino group in the desosamine sugar is important for good antibacterial activity. The course of the phosgene reactions has been verified by an X-ray analysis.
Topics: Anti-Bacterial Agents; Azithromycin; Carbamates; Cyclization; Microbial Viability; Models, Molecular; Molecular Structure; Structure-Activity Relationship
PubMed: 18045746
DOI: 10.1016/j.ejmech.2007.10.013 -
Environmental Science & Technology Jul 2006One component of preparedness for a chemical attack is planning for the disposal of contaminated debris. To assess the feasibility of contaminated debris disposal in...
One component of preparedness for a chemical attack is planning for the disposal of contaminated debris. To assess the feasibility of contaminated debris disposal in municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills, the fate of selected chemical warfare agents (CWAs) and toxic industrial chemicals (TICs) in MSW landfills was predicted with a mathematical model. Five blister agents [sulfur mustard (HD), nitrogen mustard (HN-2), lewisite (L), ethyldichloroarsine (ED), and phosgene oxime (CX)], eight nerve agents [tabun (GA), sarin (GB), soman (GD), GE, GF, VX, VG, and VM], one riot-control agent [CS], and two TICs [furan and carbon disulfide] were studied. The effects of both infiltration (climate) and contaminant biodegradability on fate predictions were assessed. Model results showed that hydrolysis and gas-phase advection were the principal fate pathways for CWAs and TICs, respectively. Apart from CX and the TICs, none of the investigated compounds was predicted to persist in a landfill for more than 5 years. Climate had little impact on CWA/TIC fate, and biodegradability was only important for compounds with long hydrolysis half-lives. Monte Carlo simulations were performed to assess the influence of uncertainty in model input parameters on CWA/TIC fate predictions. Correlation analyses showed that uncertainty in hydrolysis rate constants was the primary contributor to variance of CWA fate predictions, while uncertainty in the Henry's Law constant and landfill gas-production rate accounted for most of the variance of TIC fate predictions. CWA hydrolysates were more persistent than the parent CWAs, but limited information is available on abiotic or biotic transformation rates for these chemicals.
Topics: Biodegradation, Environmental; Chemical Warfare Agents; Environmental Pollution; Half-Life; Hazardous Waste; Industrial Waste; Kinetics; Models, Chemical; Refuse Disposal
PubMed: 16856738
DOI: 10.1021/es052400y -
Critical Care Clinics Oct 2005Vesicants (or blister agents) are cytotoxic alkylating compounds, which are chemical agents sometimes collectively known as mustard gas or simply as mustard. Other... (Review)
Review
Vesicants (or blister agents) are cytotoxic alkylating compounds, which are chemical agents sometimes collectively known as mustard gas or simply as mustard. Other blister agents are nitrogen mustard; sulfur mustard; lewisite, a vesicant that contains arsenic; and phosgene oxime, a halogenated oxime that possesses different properties and toxicity from the other agents. This article discusses history, toxicity, clinical presentation, and common treatment for vesicants.
Topics: Chemical Warfare; Decontamination; Diagnosis, Differential; Environmental Exposure; Eye Injuries; Humans; Irritants; Skin
PubMed: 16168310
DOI: 10.1016/j.ccc.2005.06.005 -
Nauchni Trudove Na Visshiia Meditsinski... 1957
Topics: First Aid; Humans; Organizations; Oximes; Phosgene
PubMed: 13526753
DOI: No ID Found -
Nauchni Trudove Na Visshiia Meditsinski... 1957
Topics: Oximes; Phosgene; Therapies, Investigational
PubMed: 13526752
DOI: No ID Found -
Nauchni Trudove Na Visshiia Meditsinski... 1957
Topics: Oximes; Phosgene; Therapies, Investigational
PubMed: 13526751
DOI: No ID Found -
Nauchni Trudove Na Visshiia Meditsinski... 1957
Topics: Humans; Oximes; Phosgene
PubMed: 13526750
DOI: No ID Found -
Nauchni Trudove Na Visshiia Meditsinski... 1957
Topics: Oximes; Phosgene
PubMed: 13526749
DOI: No ID Found