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Soman was the third of the so-called G-series nerve agents to be discovered along with GA (tabun), GB (sarin), and GF (cyclosarin). When pure, soman is a volatile, corrosive, and colorless liquid with a faint odor like that of mothballs or rotten fruit. [3] More commonly, it is a yellow to brown color and has a strong odor described as similar ...
During World War II, as part of the Grün 3 program, a plant for the manufacture of tabun was established at Dyhernfurth (now Brzeg Dolny, Poland), in 1939. [22] Run by Anorgana GmbH, the plant began production of the substance in 1942. [22] The reason for the delay was the extreme precautions used by the plant. [22]
After World War II, the Allies recovered German artillery shells containing the three German nerve agents of the day (tabun, sarin, and soman), prompting further research into nerve agents by all of the former Allies.
A chemical weapon agent (CWA), or chemical warfare agent, is a chemical substance whose toxic properties are meant to kill, injure or incapacitate human beings.About 70 different chemicals have been used or stockpiled as chemical weapon agents during the 20th century, although the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has an online database listing 35,942 chemicals which ...
Since World War II, Iraq's use of mustard gas against Iranian troops and Kurds (Iran–Iraq War of 1980–1988) has been the only large-scale use of any chemical weapons. On the scale of the single Kurdish village of Halabja within its own territory, Iraqi forces did expose the populace to some kind of chemical weapons, possibly mustard gas and ...
Pilot plants were built, and a production facility was under construction (but was not finished) by the end of World War II. Estimates for total sarin production by Nazi Germany range from 500 kg to 10 tons. [43] Though sarin, tabun, and soman were incorporated into artillery shells, Germany did not use nerve agents against Allied targets.
The major nerve gases are the G agents, sarin (GB), soman (GD), tabun (GA), and the V agents such as VX. The original agent, tabun, was discovered in Germany in 1936 in the process of work on organophosphorus insecticides. Next came sarin, soman and finally, cyclosarin, a product of commercial insecticide laboratories prior to World War II.
During the war, Germany stockpiled tabun, sarin, and soman but refrained from their use on the battlefield. In total, Germany produced about 78,000 tons of chemical weapons. [ 5 ] By 1945 the nation had produced about 12,000 tons of tabun and 1,000 pounds (450 kg) of sarin. [ 5 ]