Zarin - is ... The history of application and effect on humans

Zarin is an organophosphorus poisonous substance that has a nerve agent effect. It is easily absorbed into the skin, clothing, shoes of a person. This poison imperceptibly and quickly accumulates inside the body. In severe poisoning, irreversible pathological changes occur, resulting in the death of a person.

Chemical and physical properties of the poison

It is an ether (liquid) without color and odor. If it is warmed to room temperature, the substance will acquire a slightly perceptible aroma of the flowers of an apple tree. Its main property is that it instantly passes from a liquid state to a gaseous state. Gas is unstable in air. In winter, its concentration in the environment persists for several days, and in the summer - a couple of hours.

Any contact with a person causes severe poisoning. The most dangerous is the inhalation route. If you inhale the gas, a negative effect occurs within a few minutes.

If a large amount of substance enters the respiratory tract, death can occur instantly. Gas is equally dangerous if it enters the mucous membranes, skin integument, or the gastrointestinal tract.

When was opened

This substance was discovered in 1938 in Germany. Scientists wanted to get powerful pesticides, but they got nerve gas. Zarin takes the third place in toxicity after cyclosarin and soman, which are part of the four toxic substances of the G-series (the oldest family of toxic substances).

In 1939, the substance was transferred to the military, who wanted to put sarin into mass production, but Germany soon abandoned the combat use of nerve agents.

Application history

Sarin began to be mass-produced in the 1950s in the USA and the USSR. In 1953, while testing this gas, a soldier Ronald Madison died. In the 2000s, a court found guilty of the state and the military, who produced the substance under the guise of developing a cold medicine.

Sarin was used in the Iran-Iraq war during the regime of Saddam Hussein, who used the sarin substance against the Kurds. In 1988, there was a gas attack in Iraqi Kurdistan using sarin, which killed about 5 thousand people and about 10 thousand received severe poisoning.

In the 90s, gas was used against the population in Japan. The religious sect “Aum Sinrique” turned out to be guilty, which used sarin and phosgene at least 4 times:

1. In 1993, December 18 during the attempted assassination of a rival sect leader.
2. In 1994, May 9, in order to kill the lawyer Takimoto Taro.
3. In 1994, on June 27, the first terrorist act using chemical weapons against the civilian population was committed. Aum Shinrique used approximately 20 kg of almost pure sarin in Nagano Prefecture. As a result of this attack, 7 people were killed and about 200 people were injured.
4. In 1995, on March 20, a sarin attack occurred in the Tokyo subway. According to various sources, the death lists included from 10 to 27 people and more than 6 thousand people received poisoning of varying severity.

A major chemical attack occurred in 2013 on August 21 during the Syrian Civil War. The military fired several missiles with warheads containing 350 liters of sarin in the suburbs of Damascus. About 1800 people were killed and another 3600 were injured.

Chemical Weapons Convention

In 1993, members of the UN (162 states) in Paris signed the Chemical Weapons Convention, according to which it was forbidden to produce and stockpile any chemical weapons, including sarin. This convention entered into force only in April 29, 1997. By April 2007, all stocks of sarin should have been destroyed.

In Russia, they got rid of this substance only by June 2017. So, the country fulfilled its international obligations in accordance with the program “Destruction of Chemical Weapons in the Russian Federation”.

The effect of sarin on humans

This is the strongest poisonous substance that, when ingested in large quantities in the human body, leads to death. Sarin's main goal is the central nervous system. Gas stimulates the transmission of a nerve impulse to the muscles and all internal organs, resulting in complete nervous exhaustion.

Under the influence of sarin, chemical weapons, the mucous membranes of a person are the first to fall. Abundant discharge from the sinuses begins, difficulty breathing appears due to the high formation of mucus in the bronchi, and a feeling of stuffiness in the chest appears.

Symptoms after a person is affected by sarin

From the side of the central nervous system:

1. Destruction of the meninges - constant headache, dizziness, anxiety, overexcitation, insomnia or vice versa, drowsiness, weakness of the whole organism.
2. Mental disorder is an emotionally unstable background with constant bursts of aggression, apathy or depression, the appearance of nightmares.
3. Damage to the center of the human brain - problems with concentration, tremor of the extremities, impaired diction, speech, convulsions, decreased blood pressure, impaired motor function of muscles of different groups.

From the side of the organs of vision:

1. The pupils become dilated or, conversely, narrowed.
2. There is an acute pain in the forehead.
3. The lens of the eye becomes cloudy.
4. Visual acuity decreases.
5. The mucous eyes turn red.

From the respiratory system:

1. In the bronchi, excessive secretion of mucus begins.
2. There is acute pain in the chest.
3. A person begins to breathe often, superficially, shortness of breath appears.
4. A person begins to cough continuously.
5. Pulmonary edema is formed.
6. The skin becomes cyanotic.

From the gastrointestinal tract:

1. Vomiting, nausea, heartburn, belching.
2. Severity with discomfort in the stomach.
3. Attacks of cramping in the abdominal cavity.
4. Diarrhea, involuntary bowel movements (with severe poisoning).

Problems with other bodies

Symptoms also appear:

1. The heartbeat becomes slower, there is a violation of the heart rhythm.
2. The frequency of urination increases. If a person is in a semi-conscious state, the bladder is emptied involuntarily.
3. Muscles begin to contract (one or a group).
4. There are spasms of the respiratory tract, suffocation occurs, as a result of which the victim simply dies.

First Aid Rules

Zarin is a toxic substance that causes irreversible effects in the human body. You need to know how to provide first aid to the victim in order to avoid the serious consequences of intoxication. It is important to try to make sure that a severe form of poisoning does not develop. Otherwise, the probability of death increases to 100%.

Algorithm of actions:

1. A person must be immediately removed from the affected area.
2. All clothing is removed from it to reduce contact of the toxic substance with the surface of the body.
3. The victim’s face and body are washed with clean water, preferably with a small amount of soda.
4. If there is an antidote on hand, it must immediately be administered to the victim under the skin.

How to administer an antidote?

Antidotes to sarin are Cyclodolum, Aprofen, Scopolamine, Hyoscyamine, Atropine. If there are none near, it is allowed to use the following medicines: “Meklosin”, “Doxylamine”, “Cyclizine”, “Diphenhydramine”. Enter them should be intramuscularly.

If the poisoning is mild or moderate, the dosage should not exceed 2 ml. With more severe intoxication, it rises to 4 ml.

The antidote must be administered with a 10-15 minute period of time until the patient shows signs of improvement: the pain syndrome decreases, the cramps disappear, and the reaction to light is restored.

How to treat patients in a hospital

Zarin is a poison that poisons the body as quickly as possible. Treatment of intoxication is carried out in intensive care, under intensive care. The victim is placed in a ward where there are no external stimuli, and the flow of light is regulated (so as not to irritate the mucous eyes).

First of all, the stomach is washed with an alkaline solution in order to reduce the degree of influence of the poisonous substance on the internal organs. The following medicines are also used:

• "Atropine". This drug blocks nerve receptors and prevents the physiological destruction of various organs and systems.
• “Toxogonin” or “Pralidoxime” (organophosphorus compounds). If they were able to be used in the first hours of poisoning, the body's natural processes can recover faster.
• Diazepam is a cure for seizures. With it, you can relax the muscles, relieve anxiety, calm a person. Use before the start of the main therapy. Quickly cleans up seizures with seizures.
• "Budaksim" or "Athens" - a tool for use in the field. It is included in the military individual first-aid kit, issued in a special syringe tube.

Symptomatic therapy is also necessary, and in extremely serious condition - mechanical ventilation. When cardiac arrest, resuscitation is performed to restore the functionality of organs and the whole organism.

Conclusion

Fortunately, thanks to the Chemical Weapons Convention, sarin stockpiles have been destroyed. But this is only according to official data. Due to the difficult situation in the world, many terrorist organizations can clandestinely produce this substance. No law has been written for them.

Therefore, it is important to know the effect of the poison on the body, the symptoms and the rules of first aid in the first minutes of poisoning. Unfortunately, with a severe degree of intoxication, pathological changes are irreversible, and for a short time a person dies.