Sarin Serene Selli & Hannah Pritchard 7 th Period

What is it? Originally developed as a pesticide by the Germans in Also known as “GB” (G-series of chemical weapons) A clear, colorless, and tasteless liquid that has no odor in its pure form, and can evaporate into a vapor (gas) Classified as “nerve agent” and was used in chemical warfare

How you can be poisoned…. Can be exposed through skin contact or eye contact or being exposed by breathing air that contains sarin. Can be exposed by touching or drinking water that contains sarin. Can be exposed by eating the contaminated food. Even a small drop of sarin on the skin can cause sweating and muscle twitching where sarin touched the skin.

Symptoms Runny nose Watery eyes Small, pinpoint pupils Eye pain Blurred vision Drooling and excessive sweating Cough Chest tightness Rapid breathing Diarrhea Increased urination Confusion Drowsiness Weakness Headache Nausea, vomiting, and/or abdominal pain Slow or fast heart rate Low or high blood pressure

Large doses… Exposure leads to: – Loss of consciousness – Convulsions – Paralysis – Respiratory failure leading to death

Treatment If exposed, immediately go to a hospital or poison control center With large doses, you can die within a matter of seconds, so you are not likely to survive.

Cases Japan: March 20 th 1995 Aum Shinrikyo: group that launched chemical attack Chemical Attack on Tokyo Metro Hospitals: 6,300 People Affected –17: Critical –37: Severe –984: Moderate –At least a dozen: dead

Cases(cont) 1980–1988: Iraq used sarin against Iran during the 1980–88 war. During the 1990–91 Gulf War, Iraq still had large stockpiles available which were found as coalition forces advanced north.

Cases (cont) 2004: On May 14 Iraqi insurgency fighters in Iraq detonated a 155 mm shell containing several liters of binary precursors for sarin. The shell was designed to mix the chemicals as it spins during flight. The detonated shell released only a small amount of sarin gas, either because the explosion failed to mix the binary agents properly or because the chemicals inside the shell had degraded significantly with age. Two United States soldiers were treated for exposure after displaying the early symptoms of exposure to sarin.

Bibliography generaltopics.blogspot.com/2008/06/sarin.html generaltopics.blogspot.com/2008/06/sarin.html bin/nn a1.html bin/nn a1.html