United States Chemical Overview
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Background
This page is part of the United States Country Profile.
- Click for Recent Developments and Current Status
The United States is a party to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), does not have an active offensive chemical warfare (CW) program, and is destroying its chemical weapons stocks, some of which remain from World War I.
The United States developed a robust CW program beginning near the end of World War I. The program continued until the early 1990s when President George H.W. Bush and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev signed a bilateral accord to end the production of new chemical weapons and significantly reduce CW stockpiles. Subsequently, the United States ratified the CWC on 24 April 1997, which obligated it to dismantle its CW program and destroy all CW stocks. As of December 2013 the United States has destroyed 90% of its Category I agents and all of its Category II and III agents, and is scheduled to destroy the remaining stocks by 2023. 1 The United States has made extensive efforts to support global CW nonproliferation by providing political and technical support for the dismantlement of the Syrian, Libyan, and Albanian CW programs.
History
1918 to 1949: Early Efforts
The United States commenced researching chemical weapons in 1917 near the end of World War I. Initially, the U.S. Bureau of Mines managed this program because of its experience with mine gases. However, on 28 June 1918 the United States founded the Chemical Warfare Service (CWS), a dedicated agency for CW efforts. 2 The Edgewood Arsenal in Maryland was central to CWS efforts. Several facilities were built there for the development and manufacture of CW agents, and for munitions filling. 3 Work initially focused on developing phosgene, chlorine, chloropicrin mustard gas, hydrogen cyanide, bromobenzyl cyanide, diphenylchloroarsine (a vomiting agent), and lewisite (first discovered by an American scientist in 1918). 4 In addition to CW agent development, the CWS was also responsible for CW defense efforts, including the acquisition of large numbers of gas masks for humans and horses. The Edgewood Arsenal’s staff would eventually peak at over 7,000 military officers and enlisted personnel, producing a larger quantity of CW agents than England and France combined. 5
Research and development activities tapered off after World War I; however, the CWS still maintained CW specialists and facilities. Some CWS resources were redirected toward civil chemical applications, including the development of new chemicals to prevent barnacles from attaching to ships and insecticide to protect crops from boll weevils.
In the mid to late 1930s, interest in and support for the CW program began to increase as the possibility for another major war in Europe loomed. The U.S. Congress initially allocated funds to the CWS to develop a basic offensive chemical weapons stockpile; funding to the CWS was increased after Germany invaded Poland in 1939, and continually thereafter prior to U.S. entry into World War II. 6 This funding was primarily used to build new facilities for research and development, as well as production plants managed by private industry. 7
During World War II, the need to prepare for possible enemy chemical attacks drove the United States’ CW policy. 8 The CWS increased its efforts to acquire protective equipment and train soldiers in its proper use. In addition to defensive measures, the United States produced large quantities of offensive CW agents; during World War II this included, in total, 43.8 tons of unpurified sulfur mustard; 4,500 tons of purified sulfur mustard; 20,000 tons of lewisite; and 100 tons of nitrogen mustard. 9 The United Kingdom also provided the United States with chemical weapons, including 6,500 500-pound bombs filled with phosgene. 10 The U.S. Army’s primary chemical weapon delivery system during World War II was the 4.2 inch mortar, which could fire shells filled with either CW agents or high explosives. 11 The United States military also produced a large number of 105 millimeter (mm) and 155 mm artillery shells filled with mustard gas. 12 By the end of World War II the U.S. Army had established 32 chemical mortar brigades, 11 chemical mortar companies, and additional support units. 13
Shortly after World War II ended, interest in chemical weapons waned. In 1947, Congress cut two-thirds of the Chemical Corps’ (the Chemical Warfare Service was renamed in 1946) budget and closed the Dugway Proving Ground, a major development and open-air testing site. 14 In addition, between 1946 and 1948 the United States disposed of most of its 20,000-ton stock of lewisite by dumping it into the oceans. 15
1950 to 1969: CW During the Cold War
Increasing tensions between the United States and the USSR, as well as the outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950 led the U.S. military to develop a renewed interest in chemical weapons. Five days after the start of the war, the Ad Hoc Committee on Chemical, Biological and Radiological Warfare submitted its report (also known as the Stevenson Report) advocating a strong focus on chemical weapons to counter Russian efforts, and an end to the retaliation-only policy that had been the norm. 16 Almost all of the Stevenson’s Reports’ recommendations were accepted, although the retaliation-only policy remained. As a result of those recommendations, over the next year-and-a-half the Chemical Corp’s budget tripled, the number of researchers was increased from 2,100 to 3,700, and the Dugway Proving Grounds were reopened for testing chemical weapons munitions. 17
During the 1950s production focused primarily on the nerve agent sarin, as it has more military utility and is easier to manufacture relative to other nerve agents. 18 The precursor chemicals needed to synthesize sarin are methylphosphonic dichloride (referred to as dichlor), sodium fluoride, and isopropyl alcohol. The U.S. manufacturing process for sarin involved two separate activities out of concern about possible sabotage or attack: first, the precursor chemical dichlor was produced at facilities in Muscle Shoals, Alabama; and second, sarin was synthesized at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal near Denver, Colorado. 19 Despite some initial difficulties and delays in the production of dichlor, the Rocky Mountain Arsenal soon was producing thousands of tons of sarin per year. 20 This continued until 1957 when the military determined it had a sufficient supply of sarin and both facilities were shut down. The Chemical Corps also produced new delivery systems including 105mm and 155mm artillery shells, as well as the M35 cluster bomb (designed to be filled with sarin). U.S. researchers also developed 2-PAM (pralidoxime chloride) for defensive purposes, a highly effective nerve agent antidote when combined with atropine.
In 1961, the United States began Project 112 to examine the strategic impact of chemical and biological weapons. 21 Project 112 found that both chemical and biological weapons should be seen as a part of a broader strategy of “gradual deterrence” in which chemical or biological attacks could serve as intermediary steps to deter the Soviet Union without resorting to nuclear weapons. 22 As a result of this finding, the budget of the Chemical Corps nearly tripled between 1961 and 1964. 23
Project 112’s work coincided with efforts to develop new chemical weapons agents and delivery systems. In the late 1950s, the military had become interested in the new V-series of nerve agents (sarin belongs to the G-series), and particularly in VX due to its greater lethality and persistence (sarin is non-persistent). Following extensive research and pilot testing, production of VX began in 1961 at the Newport Chemical Depot near Terre Haute, Indiana, which produced between 4,000 and 5,000 tons of VX by 1967. 24 In addition to VX agent, the military produced new delivery systems for both sarin and VX including the M55 rocket, the Honest John rocket, VX-filled landmines, and 750-pound aerial bombs for sarin. However, production of these munitions was insufficient, and as a result production of VX was ended in 1968 due to a lack of delivery systems with which to pair it. 25
While chemical weapons production was ramping up, the United States military also conducted extensive tests. Following Project 112’s recommendations, the Deseret Test Center at Fort Douglas, Utah was created to oversee extensive testing of biological and chemical weapons over land and using barges in far off areas of the Pacific Ocean. 26 At least fifty trials were conducted between December 1962 and 1970 (though it is important to note that these trials involved both biological and chemical weapons tests). 27 (Project 112’s sea trials, referred to as Shipboard Hazard and Defense (SHAD), generated controversy in later years, when former Navy personnel argued that the tests had had a strong negative impact on their health.) 28
During the Vietnam War, the CW program came under extensive criticism by both Congress and the public after several incidents. In March 1968 over 6,000 sheep in Utah were killed after a cloud of VX gas released over the Dugway Proving Grounds drifted off the testing range. 29 This event was heavily publicized by a documentary on the U.S. chemical and biological weapons program on NBC’s “First Tuesday” TV show, leading to major public and congressional backlash. 30 There was also extensive concern over revelations that the United States military had been dumping old chemical weapons from the World War II-era at sea under Operation Cut Holes and Sink ‘Em (CHASE). 31
1969 to 1985: A 17-Year Moratorium
U.S. President Richard Nixon’s Secretary of Defense, Melvin R. Laird, launched a review of biological and chemical weapons policies and programs on April 30, 1969 in response to public and congressional concerns. However, the CW part of the review quickly became moot because in August 1969 Congress unilaterally initiated a moratorium on the production of new chemical weapons. 32 After having read the findings of Laird’s review, President Nixon issued his “Statement on Chemical and Biological Defense Policies and Programs” on 25 November 1969. The statement reaffirmed the United States’ commitment to no first use of lethal chemical weapons, extended that commitment to non-lethal chemical weapons, and committed the president to submitting the 1925 Geneva Protocol to the Senate for ratification. 33
In the late 1960s, Chemical Corp scientists achieved a major technological advance when they developed so-called binary CW agents. Briefly, a binary weapon is one that carries two relatively innocuous precursors in separate compartments until it is used. Once the weapon has been launched, the wall between the compartments is breached and the two precursors are mixed. The resulting chemical reaction produces a toxic nerve agent, either VX or sarin. In 1979, the Department of Defense sought approval from Congress to construct a pilot plant for new binary CW agents. 34 Although Congress approved funding for the construction of the pilot plant at Pine Bluff Arsenal, the request touched off a broader public debate about the value of binary chemical weapons that continued until the mid-1980s. 35 The military argued that it was necessary to replace the aging CW stockpile that had been neglected since the 1960s moratorium began with new binary chemical agents, and also claimed that they were safer to handle than unitary agents. 36 The Reagan administration in the 1980s agreed with these claims, but also asserted the importance of having effective chemical weapons in order to counter the threat posed by the Soviet Union. According to the U.S. Army, when faced with a possible or real CW attack, Soviet soldiers would be forced to don Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), which would degrade their fighting effectiveness by as much as fifty percent. 37 However, opponents argued that the weapons would create political problems with NATO allies since some of them would have to store the new munitions for rapid deployment in case of a Soviet attack. Other opponents questioned the value of CW in general because of the weapons’ supposed limited military efficacy and potential for generating civilian casualties. 38
1985 to 1990: Reversing the Moratorium
In 1985 President Reagan officially reversed the moratorium on chemical weapons development and Congress approved his request to begin production of binary VX and sarin. 39 At the same time, due to mounting concerns that the aging stockpile posed potential safety hazards, many of the United States’ older chemical weapons were ordered destroyed. 40 In fact, the Department of Defense Authorization Act for 1984 mandated that for the production of each new 155mm artillery shell or aerial bomb filled with a binary chemical weapons agent, a unitary weapon must be destroyed. 41 In order to alleviate allied opposition to the new weapons, production of new agents was conditioned on approval by a NATO committee. 42
In addition to new binary weapons agents, the Reagan administration approved the development and production of new delivery systems. Thus the military successfully produced M-687 binary artillery rounds. However, the major focus for munitions development was the 500lb Bigeye Bomb that had been in development since the 1960s. 43 The Bigeye posed significant technical challenges; a 1989 memo from the Government Accountability Office stated that the Bigeye had serious design flaws. 44 In addition, attempts to develop sarin and VX binary warheads for M55 rockets used by the U.S. Multiple-Launch Rocket System (MLRS) were unsuccessful. 45
1990 to 1993: Bilateral U.S.-USSR CW Reductions
The U.S. position on CW was reversed again on 1 June 1990 when presidents George H. W. Bush and Mikhael Gorbachev signed a bilateral accord that enjoined the USSR and United States to significantly reduce their chemical weapons stockpiles over the next decade. 46 Specifically, both leaders agreed to reduce their declared stockpiles to only 5,000 tons by 2002, with an interim goal of fifty percent destruction of the declared stockpiles by 1999. 47 Furthermore, both states would end production of new chemical weapons and allow on-site inspections for verification purposes. In 1992, the U.S. Army Chemical Material Destruction Agency (renamed Chemical Materials Agency in 2003 following several other name changes) was established to oversee all destruction activities, including making certain that they were safely conducted. 48
1993 to the Present: CWC Ratification and CW Destruction
On 13 January 1993 the United States signed the CWC. However, the U.S. Senate delayed ratifying the treaty due to concerns about the treaty’s verifiability and domestic political infighting in the Senate. Much of the delay stemmed from Senator Jesse Helms (R-NC), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who sought to use CWC ratification as leverage against the Clinton Administration by holding the treaty in committee to gain support for his goal of reorganizing the U.S. foreign affairs bureaucracy. 49 In addition to viewing the ratification process as a political tool, Helms was concerned about the treaty’s ability to carry out its stated goals, fearing that compliance to the treaty could neither be verified nor enforced, leading to a false sense of security among treaty members. 50
Following a compromise deal brokered by Senator John Kerry (D-MA), the treaty was allowed out of committee on 30 April 1996 for an eventual vote on the Senate floor. In exchange, Helms received Democratic support for developing a bipartisan bill to restructure the foreign affairs bureaucracy. 51 Originally, the vote was scheduled to occur before 14 September 1996; however, it fell victim to the divisive political atmosphere prior to the November 1996 presidential election and was thus again delayed.
After President Clinton’s re-election, the administration focused on building public and Congressional support for ratification, including by hosting a rally on 4 April 1997 on the lawn of the White House, with prominent political and military figures from both parties in attendance. 52 Eventually, the vote was held on 24 April 1997, at which time the amendments creating conditions for U.S. ratification were defeated, and the CWC was successfully ratified. 53
After the United States successfully ratified the CWC, Congress still needed to pass implementing legislation to put the terms of the treaty into practice, and used that opportunity to unilaterally include three exceptions to CWC provisions. 54 First, the United States reserved the right to refuse an on-site inspection by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). 55 Second, chemical samples could not be removed from the U.S. for analysis at overseas labs. Third, the number of facilities subject to declaration and inspection would be greatly limited. Consistent with the CWC, the United States drew up plans for destroying its remaining stockpile of chemical weapons and developed a list of chemical facilities to declare to the OPCW as part of its required initial declaration.
Capabilities
The United States had produced a wide variety of different chemical weapons agents since the CW program’s beginnings in World War I. Early efforts focused on mustard gas, phosgene, and chlorine, among others, based on recommendations from France and Britain during World War I. During World War II, the United States produced hundreds of thousands of tons of new chemical agents with a focus on blister agents, including lewisite, sulfur mustard, and nitrogen mustard. During the 1950s and 1960s focus shifted towards developing new nerve agents and producing 4,000 to 5,000 tons of VX and thousands of tons of sarin. Production of VX took place at the Newport Chemical Depot outside of Terre Haute, Indiana. Bulk chemical agents were stored at Tooele Army Base in Utah. 56 The Edgewood Arsenal has served as the primary facility for agent development and production. In addition to the agents themselves, the United States constructed a wide variety of delivery vehicles including mortars of several sizes, 100lb bombs, artillery shells, spray tanks, chemical mines, bomblets, and missiles for their delivery.
As of December 2012 declarations to the OPCW, the United States still possessed 3,134 tons of chemical weapons agents, consisting of mustard gas, sarin, and VX. These agents are scheduled to be destroyed by 2023 after construction of the necessary destruction facilities.
Recent Developments and Current Status
Following ratification of the CWC, the United States was scheduled to destroy its offensive CW stockpile by 2007; however, delays pushed back the deadline until 2023. 57 Nevertheless, by December 2013, 90% of the Category I agents and all of the Category II and III agents in the U.S. stockpile had been destroyed. The remaining chemical weapons agent stockpiles slated for destruction are located at the Chemical Depot in Pueblo, Colorado and the Blue Grass Army Depot in Richmond, Kentucky, where destruction plants were recently constructed. 58 The Colorado facility contains 2,611 tons of mustard gas in filled 105mm and 155mm projectiles and 4.2 inch mortar cartridges. 59 The Blue Grass Army Depot contains 523 tons of the nerve agents VX and sarin, as well as mustard gas in filled munitions. 60 The Chemical Depot in Pueblo is in its final testing phase and will begin destroying mustard agents by 2017. 61 The Blue Grass Army Depot will start a multi-year testing phase by destroying simulated nerve agents. 62 The other facilities that once produced chemical weapons agents and delivery systems have since been decommissioned. 63
The United States has also played a key role in furthering global norms against chemical weapons. In 2004 the United States was extensively involved with the destruction of a large previously unknown stock of chemical weapons in Albania. The Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) of the Department of Defense funded a German company to design and equip a small, portable chemical weapons disposable facility that could be transported through the country’s mountainous terrain. 64 In September 2013, negotiations between the United States and Russia led to an agreed upon framework to dismantle Syria’s CW program. The United Nations Security Council endorsed this framework, and the OPCW adopted a decision on destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons based on this framework on 27 September 2013. 65 To carry out the destruction, DTRA developed a Field Deployable Hydrolysis System (FDHS) that was deployed on the U.S. cargo ship Cape Ray. 66 The FDHS has completed the neutralization of 600 tons of sulfur mustard and DF, a sarin precursor. 67
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Glossary
- Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC)
- The Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) requires each state party to declare and destroy all the chemical weapons (CW) and CW production facilities it possesses, or that are located in any place under its jurisdiction or control, as well as any CW it abandoned on the territory of another state. The CWC was opened for signature on 13 January 1993, and entered into force on 29 April 1997. For additional information, see the CWC.
- Chemical Weapon (CW)
- The CW: The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons defines a chemical weapon as any of the following: 1) a toxic chemical or its precursors; 2) a munition specifically designed to deliver a toxic chemical; or 3) any equipment specifically designed for use with toxic chemicals or munitions. Toxic chemical agents are gaseous, liquid, or solid chemical substances that use their toxic properties to cause death or severe harm to humans, animals, and/or plants. Chemical weapons include blister, nerve, choking, and blood agents, as well as non-lethal incapacitating agents and riot-control agents. Historically, chemical weapons have been the most widely used and widely proliferated weapon of mass destruction.
- Bilateral
- Bilateral: Negotiations, arrangements, agreements, or treaties that affect or are between two parties—and generally two countries.
- Ratification
- Ratification: The implementation of the formal process established by a country to legally bind its government to a treaty, such as approval by a parliament. In the United States, treaty ratification requires approval by the president after he or she has received the advice and consent of two-thirds of the Senate. Following ratification, a country submits the requisite legal instrument to the treaty’s depository governments Procedures to ratify a treaty follow its signature.
See entries for Entry into force and Signature. - Dismantlement
- Dismantlement: Taking apart a weapon, facility, or other item so that it is no longer functional.
- Nonproliferation
- Nonproliferation: Measures to prevent the spread of biological, chemical, and/or nuclear weapons and their delivery systems. See entry for Proliferation.
- Phosgene (CG)
- Phosgene (CG): A choking agent, phosgene gas causes damage to the respiratory system leading to fluid build-up in the lungs. Phosgene also causes coughing, throat and eye irritation, tearing, and blurred vision. A gas at room temperature, phosgene can be delivered as a pressurized liquid that quickly converts to gas. Germany and France used phosgene during World War I; the United Kingdom, the United States, and Russia also produced military phosgene. Phosgene caused over 80% of the deaths from chemical gas during World War I.
- Mustard (HD)
- Mustard is a blister agent, or vesicant. The term mustard gas typically refers to sulfur mustard (HD), despite HD being neither a mustard nor a gas. Sulfur mustard gained notoriety during World War I for causing more casualties than all of the other chemical agents combined. Victims develop painful blisters on their skin, as well as lung and eye irritation leading to potential pulmonary edema and blindness. However, mustard exposure is usually not fatal. A liquid at room temperature, sulfur mustard has been delivered using artillery shells and aerial bombs. HD is closely related to the nitrogen mustards (HN-1, HN-2, HN—3).
- Vomiting agent
- A vomiting agent is a chemical weapon that attacks the nose and throat, leading to nausea and severe emesis (vomiting). Vomiting agents can be used to force an enemy to remove protective equipment such as gas masks. Examples include adamsite and DA.
- Lewisite (L)
- Lewisite is a blister agent that like mustard causes eye, skin, and airway irritation, but unlike mustard, acts immediately rather than with a delay. With significant exposure, lewisite can cause blindness. A colorless liquid, lewisite can be dispersed as a gas or a liquid. Lewisite (L) has no known medical or other non-military uses. Several countries, including Japan, the United States, and the Soviet Union, have produced and stockpiled lewisite. Lewisite may have been used by Japan during World War II.
- Nerve agent
- A nerve agent is a chemical weapon that attacks the human nervous system, leading to uncontrolled nerve cell excitation and muscle contraction. Specifically, nerve agents block the enzyme cholinesterease, so acetylcholine builds up in the nerve junction and the neuron cannot return to the rest state. Nerve agents include the G-series nerve agents (soman, sarin, tabun, and GF) synthesized by Germany during and after World War II; the more toxic V-series nerve agents (VX, VE, VM, VG, VR) discovered by the United Kingdom during the 1950s; and the reportedly even more toxic Novichok agents, developed by the Soviet Union between 1960 and 1990. The development of both the G-series and V-series nerve agents occurred alongside pesticide development.
- Sarin (GB)
- Sarin (GB): A nerve agent, sarin causes uncontrollable nerve cell excitation and muscle contraction. Ultimately, sarin victims suffer death by suffocation. As with other nerve agents, sarin can cause death within minutes. Sarin vapor is about ten times less toxic than VX vapor, but 25 times more toxic than hydrogen cyanide. Discovered while attempting to produce more potent pesticides, sarin is the most toxic of the four G-series nerve agents developed by Germany during World War II. Germany never used sarin during the war. However, Iraq may have used sarin during the Iran-Iraq War, and Aum Shinrikyo is known to have used low-quality sarin during its attack on the Tokyo subway system that killed 12 people and injured hundreds.
- VX
- VX: The most toxic of the V-series nerve agents, VX was developed after the discovery of VE in the United Kingdom. Like other nerve agents, VX causes uncontrollable nerve excitation and muscle excitation. Ultimately, VX victims suffer death by suffocation. VX is an oily, amber-colored, odorless liquid.
- Biological weapon (BW)
- Biological weapons use microorganisms and natural toxins to produce disease in humans, animals, or plants. Biological weapons can be derived from: bacteria (anthrax, plague, tularemia); viruses (smallpox, viral hemorrhagic fevers); rickettsia (Q fever and epidemic typhus); biological toxins (botulinum toxin, staphylococcus enterotoxin B); and fungi (San Joaquin Valley fever, mycotoxins). These agents can be deployed as biological weapons when paired with a delivery system, such as a missile or aerosol device.
- First-use
- The introduction of nuclear weapons, or other weapons of mass destruction, into a conflict. In agreeing to a "no-first-use" policy, a country states that it will not use nuclear weapons first, but only under retaliatory circumstances. See entry for No-First-Use
- Geneva Protocol
- Geneva Protocol: Formally known as the Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or Other Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare, this protocol prohibits the use in war of asphyxiating, poisonous, or other gases, and bans bacteriological warfare. It was opened for signature on 17 June 1925. For additional information, see the Geneva Protocol.
- Binary chemical weapon
- A munition in which two or more relatively harmless chemical substances, held in separate containers, react when mixed or combined to produce a more toxic chemical agent. The mixing occurs either in-flight, for instance in a chemical warhead attached to a ballistic missile or gravity bomb, or on the battlefield immediately prior to use. The mechanism has significant benefits for the production, transportation and handling of chemical weapons, since the precursor chemicals are usually less toxic than the compound created by combining them. Binary weapons for sarin and VX are known to have been developed; or
A munition containing two toxic chemical agents. The United Kingdom combined chlorine and sulfur chloride during World War I and the United States combined sulfur mustard and lewisite. This definition is less commonly used. - North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
- The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is a military alliance that was formed in 1949 to help deter the Soviet Union from attacking Europe. The Alliance is based on the North Atlantic Treaty, which was signed in Washington on 4 April 1949. The treaty originally created an alliance of 10 European and two North American independent states, but today NATO has 28 members who have committed to maintaining and developing their defense capabilities, to consulting on issues of mutual security concern, and to the principle of collective self-defense. NATO is also engaged in out-of-area security operations, most notably in Afghanistan, where Alliance forces operate alongside other non-NATO countries as part of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). For additional information, see NATO.
- Deployment
- The positioning of military forces – conventional and/or nuclear – in conjunction with military planning.
- Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)
- The OPCW: Based in The Hague, the Netherlands, the OPCW is responsible for implementing the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). All countries ratifying the CWC become state parties to the CWC, and make up the membership of the OPCW. The OPCW meets annually, and in special sessions when necessary. For additional information, see the OPCW.
- Phosgene (CG)
- Phosgene (CG): A choking agent, phosgene gas causes damage to the respiratory system leading to fluid build-up in the lungs. Phosgene also causes coughing, throat and eye irritation, tearing, and blurred vision. A gas at room temperature, phosgene can be delivered as a pressurized liquid that quickly converts to gas. Germany and France used phosgene during World War I; the United Kingdom, the United States, and Russia also produced military phosgene. Phosgene caused over 80% of the deaths from chemical gas during World War I.
- Blister agent
- Blister agents (or vesicants) are chemical agents that cause victims to develop burns or blisters (“vesicles”) on their skin, as well as eyes, lungs, and airway irritation. Blister agents include mustard, lewisite, and phosgene, and are usually dispersed as a liquid or vapor. Although not usually fatal, exposure can result in severe blistering and blindness. Death, if it occurs, results from neurological factors or massive airway debilitation.
- United Nations Security Council
- United Nations Security Council: Under the United Nations Charter, the Security Council has primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security. The Council consists of fifteen members, five of which—China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States—are permanent members. The other ten members are elected by the General Assembly for two-year terms. The five permanent members possess veto powers. For additional information, see the UNSC.
Sources
- Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, “Report of the OPCW on the Implementation of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling, and Use of Chemical Weapons and Their Destruction in 2013,” 3 December 2014, Nineteenth Session of the Conference of States Parties, p. 9, www.opcw.org.
- Leo P. Brophy, Wyndham D. Miles, and Rexmond C. Cochrane, United States Army in World War II: The Technical Services: The Chemical Warfare Service: From Laboratory to Field (Washington D.C.: Center of Military History, United States Army, 1988), p. 2.
- Leo P. Brophy, Wyndham D. Miles, and Rexmond C. Cochrane, United States Army in World War II: The Technical Services: The Chemical Warfare Service: From Laboratory to Field (Washington D.C.: Center of Military History, United States Army, 1988), pp. 15-16.
- Leo P. Brophy, Wyndham D. Miles, and Rexmond C. Cochrane, United States Army in World War II: The Technical Services: The Chemical Warfare Service: From Laboratory to Field (Washington D.C.: Center of Military History, United States Army, 1988), p. 17.
- Leo P. Brophy, Wyndham D. Miles, and Rexmond C. Cochrane, United States Army in World War II: The Technical Services: The Chemical Warfare Service: From Laboratory to Field (Washington D.C.: Center of Military History, United States Army, 1988), p. 18.
- Burton Wright III, “The Chemical Warfare Service Prepares for World War II,” Army Logistician, November-December 1998, www.alu.army.mil.
- Burton Wright III, “The Chemical Warfare Service Prepares for World War II,” Army Logistician, November-December 1998, www.alu.army.mil.
- Leo P. Brophy and George J.B. Fisher, United States Army in World War II: The Technical Services: The Chemical Warfare Service: Organizing for War, (Washington D.C.: Center of Military History United States Army, 1989).
- Constance M. Pechura and David P. Rall, eds., Veterans at Risk: The Health Effects of Mustard Gas and Lewisite, Committee to Survey the Health Effects of Mustard Gas and Lewisite, Division of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, Institute of Medicine, (Washington D.C.: National Academy Press, 1993), www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
- Brooks E. Kleber and Dale Birdsell, United States Army in World War II: The Technical Services: The Chemical Warfare Service: Chemicals in Combat, (Washington D.C.: Center of Military History, United States Army, 1990), P. 152.
- Leo P. Brophy and George J.B. Fisher, United States Army in World War II: The Technical Services: The Chemical Warfare Service: Organizing for War, (Washington D.C.: Center of Military History United States Army, 1989), P. 302.
- “Fact Sheet: World War II Chemical Munitions: Projectiles,” U.S. Army Chemical Materials Agency, www.cma.army.mil.
- Leo P. Brophy and George J.B. Fisher, United States Army in World War II: The Technical Services: The Chemical Warfare Service: Organizing for War, (Washington D.C.: Center of Military History United States Army, 1989), P. 266.
- “Dugway Proving Ground: 1945-1950,” Dugway Proving Ground, U.S. Army, www.dugway.army.mil; Jonathan B. Tucker, War of Nerves: Chemical Warfare from World War I to Al-Qaeda, (New York: Anchor Books, 2007), P. 122.
- Joel A. Vilensky, Dew of Death: The Story of Lewisite, America’s World War I Weapon of Mass Destruction, (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2005), P. 109.
- Jonathan B. Tucker, War of Nerves: Chemical Warfare from World War I to Al-Qaeda, (New York: Anchor Books, 2007), P. 126.
- Jonathan B. Tucker, War of Nerves: Chemical Warfare from World War I to Al-Qaeda, (New York: Anchor Books, 2007), P. 127.
- Jonathan B. Tucker, War of Nerves: Chemical Warfare from World War I to Al-Qaeda, (New York: Anchor Books, 2007), pp. 122-123.
- Jonathan B. Tucker, War of Nerves: Chemical Warfare from World War I to Al-Qaeda, (New York: Anchor Books, 2007), pp. 128-130.
- Jonathan B. Tucker, War of Nerves: Chemical Warfare from World War I to Al-Qaeda, (New York: Anchor Books, 2007), P. 136.
- Jeanne Guillemin, Biological Weapons: From the Invention of State-sponsored Programs to Contemporary Bioterrorism, (New York: Columbia University Press, 2005), P. 109.
- Jonathan B. Tucker, War of Nerves: Chemical Warfare from World War I to Al-Qaeda, (New York: Anchor Books, 2007), P. 171.
- Jonathan B. Tucker, War of Nerves: Chemical Warfare from World War I to Al-Qaeda, (New York: Anchor Books, 2007), P. 170.
- Robert Harris and Jeremy Paxman, A Higher Form of Killing: The Secret History of Chemical and Biological Warfare (London: Chatto & Windus, 1982) P. 188; Jonathan B. Tucker, War of Nerves: Chemical Warfare from World War I to Al-Qaeda, (New York: Anchor Books, 2007), P. 166.
- Jonathan B. Tucker, War of Nerves: Chemical Warfare from World War I to Al-Qaeda, (New York: Anchor Books, 2007), P. 196.
- Jeanne Guillemin, Biological Weapons: From the Invention of State-sponsored Programs to Contemporary Bioterrorism, (New York: Columbia University Press, 2005), P. 109.
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