Chemical Warfare & Nerve Agents

– Part II: The V Series

It’s been a little while since the last post on chemical warfare
agents on the site, in which we looked at the G series nerve agents,
including sarin and tabun. The second of the two graphics looking at nerve
agents focuses this time on the V series, including the infamous VX.

The V series compounds were synthesised after World War II, unlike
the G series compounds. Like the G series, they were essentially
discovered by accident; scientists in the UK in the 1950s aiming to
synthesise new pesticides and insecticides stumbled across a series of
organophosphate compounds, which appeared to be good candidates for

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these uses. In fact, one of them, branded ‘Amiton’, was marketed as an
insecticide from 1954, although it was fairly rapidly withdrawn after the
human toxicity of the compound, now known as VG, became apparent.

By the time this occurred, it was clear that this particular set of
organophosphate compounds were of far too great a toxicity to have any
agricultural use. However, the British military had gotten wind of the high
toxicity of the compounds, even before Amiton’s release, and requested
further information. They carried out tests which eventually led to the
development of VX, and the naming of the series of compounds as the V
(venomous) agents.

Britain denounced chemical warfare, and suspended research on the

compounds in 1956. However, they traded their research on VX with the
Americans in the mid-50s for information on the building of thermonuclear
devices. As a result, US research into the V series compounds continued,
and in 1961, VX, identified as the most promising agent from the group,
was put into mass production.

Details of most of the tests carried out by the US on VX remain

classified. The few that we do know about don’t exactly paint those who
were involved in planning the tests in a brilliant light. Whilst no human
fatalities are recorded as a result of the tests, in 2002 the US admitted that
nerve gases including VX and sarin were tested on sailors, likely without
their informed consent, by showering them onto the deck and injecting
them into the ventilation system of their ship. Tests of this nature were
conducted throughout the 1960s, and it’s estimated that around 4,300
servicemen may have been exposed to various chemical agents.

In 1968, shortly before President Nixon issued a ban on open-air

chemical weapon testing in 1969, thousands were killed in an incident
involving VX in the US. These fatalities were not humans, however, but
sheep. Full documentation on the incident in Utah was only released to the
public in 1998, and suggest that a plane carrying empty canisters of VX
back from a test leaked some remaining VX into the appropriately named
‘Skull Valley’ in which the sheep were grazing. This caused death or injury
to over 6000 sheep.

This being the midst of the cold war, the Soviet Union was also
working on its own V series agents. They developed VR, also known as
Russian VX, an isomer of the VX developed by the UK and the US. The

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toxicity of VR is comparable to that of VX, though it exerts its effects even
more rapidly, meaning the window for administration of an antidote is
shorter. Little more is known about the other identified V agents, as once
research for commercial pesticide use ceased, only military scientists
worked on the compounds, and much of this research is not in the public
domain.

As far as the effects of the V series nerve agents go, they are much
the same as those of the G series, which are also organophosphate
compounds. They all inhibit the breakdown of the neurotransmitter,
acetylcholine. This chemical is responsible for telling muscles to contract –
when its breakdown is prevented, it prevents muscles from relaxing, which
can in turn lead to a range of other effects indicated in the graphic. VX is
the most toxic nerve agent ever synthesised, with a median lethal dose of
just ten milligrams.

As with the G series, atropine is commonly used as an antidote to the

V series nerve agents, and works by blocking acetylcholine receptors in the
body. Members of another family of compounds called oximes
are sometimes used in conjunction with atropine; they work in a different
manner, restoring the enzyme that helps break down acetylcholine to
working order. However, even these antidotes cannot be enough to save a
victim if a large enough exposure to a nerve agent has been experienced.

Synthesis and stockpiling of the V series nerve agents was banned

by the Chemical Weapons Convention of 1993, though some countries,
including the US and Russia, are still in the process of destroying their
stockpiles. As far as we know, VX has never actually been used in warfare;
there was suspicion that Saddam Hussein may have used VX in Iraq, but
this was later shown to be unlikely. As such, the only confirmed human
fatality is that of a Japanese sect member in 1994, who was killed with VX
by other sect members who suspected he was a spy.

References & Further Reading

 VX – Chemistry World
 Nerve Agents – Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical
Weapons
 Nerve Agents, V series – MedScape

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http://www.compoundchem.com/2015/02/19/nerveagentsp
art2/