Chemical warfare agents physicochemical properties

The incident described in the letter most likely was a result of applying in terrorist purposes of highly toxic substance (similar to chemical warfare agents inhibited cholinesterase), and by physicochemical properties similar to sarin. Exposure of people occurred by penetration of chemical substance via respiratory apparatus as no setting fine aerosol or vapour. Aerosol may be obtained using specially equipped tailpipe of a car as an aerosol generator. 

THE PHYSICOCHEMICAL PROPERTIES AND GENERAL TOXICOLOGY OF CHEMICAL WARFARE AGENTS... 

R. L. Maynard, The Physicochemical Properties and General Toxicology of Chemical Warfare Agents, in Chemical Warfare Agents. Toxicology and Treatment, ed. T. C. Marts, R. L. Maynard and E R. Sidell, 2nd edn, Wiley, Chichester, 2007, ch. 2, pp. 21-65. 

The year 2014 was the centenary of the commencement of the 1914-18 war [World War I (WWI)], a conflict that resulted in more than 20 million deaths and unprecedented numbers of casualties. A notorious development of that conflict was the widespread use of chemical weapons, manufactured on an industrial scale. Since 1914 more than 700000 tonnes of chemical agents have been produced by various nations but, fortunately, since 1918 the use of chemical weapons in warfare has been the exception rather than the rule. Nevertheless, their use in conflicts in Iraq in the 1980s and more recently in Syria in 2013, particularly against unprotected civilian populations, has served as a reminder that the dangers still exist, even though a near comprehensive treaty, the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), entered into force in April 1997. This chapter provides the reader with a brief history of the development and use of chemical weapons, a summary of the physicochemical properties that determine the primary hazard posed by chemical agents and how... 

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