Nerve Agent - VS

Ingestion Do not induce vomiting first symptoms are likely to be gastrointestinal administer immediately 2-mg intramuscular injection of the MARK I Kit auto injectors seek medical attention immediately. 

Field protection Protective mask and protective clothing. 

Decontamination HTH, STB slurries household bleach DS2 solution hot, soapy water. Decontaminate liquid agent on the skin with the M258A1, M258, or M291 skin decon kit. Decontaminate individual equipment with the M280 individual equipment decontamination kit. 

Persistency Depends upon munitions used and the weather. Heavily splashed liquid persists for long periods of time under average weather conditions. In very cold weather VE can persist for months. 

VS is a V-series nerve agent closely related to the better-known VX nerve gas. Like most of the agents in the V-series (with the exception of VX), VS has not been studied extensively studied. Little known about this compound other than its chemical formula. Since it is structurally very similar to VX it can be assumed that most properties will be similar also. 

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Chapter Five Nerve Agents NERVE AGENT - VS... 

The V-series of nerve agents are less volatile than the G-series but are better able to penetrate the skin. Although they are an inhalation hazard when they are in the air as vapor or aerosol, they are considered more of a percutaneous hazard. This series contains VX, VE, VG (Amiton), VM, VR (RVX, Russian VX), and VS. The V designation is considered to be derived from Victory, Venemous, or Viscous. 

Rickett, D.L., Glenn, J.F., and Beers, E.T., 1986. Central respiratory effects vs. neuromuscular actions of nerve agents. Neurotoxicology, 7, pp. 225-236. 

Based on multiple factors (total dose of atropine required aging half-times of the nerve agent 2 vs. 4 position of the oxime group (—C = N-OH) on the pyridine ring the number of oximes, both experimentally and commercially available, capable of reactivating cholinesterase and the percent of total cholinesterases that the oxime will reactivate) sarin (GB) and VX usually respond best to treatment. Tabun (GA) and cyclohexyl sarin (GF) are less responsive to treatment, and soman (GD) is the most difficult (least responsive) to treat. 

The fact that the cholinergic crisis caused by acute, severe intoxication with the OP pesticides is generally much longer than that caused by OP nerve agents (days to weeks for pesticides vs. hours for nerve agents). 

Since normal serum cholinesterase activity ranges from 182 to 804 lU/L, the determination of a single cholinesterase (ChE) inhibition level can only be an indirect indication of toxicity resulting from exposure to nerve agents. The following information exemplifies this rather well. In a report of Japanese victims of the Tokyo sarin attack, patients who exhibited moderate symptoms of intoxication had serum ChE values ranging from 300-750 lU/L. Additionally, these patients had red blood cell (RBC) ChE activity ranging between 0.3 and 2.0 lU vs. 1.2-2.0 lU for asymptomatic patients. 

Following these CNT electronic gas sensor studies, many other methods have been explored focusing on the reduction of fabrication cost. Snow et al. demonstrated that a low-density random network of SWCNTs can be fabricated into p-type thin-fllm transistors [Figure 14.7(c)] with a fleld-effect mobility of about 10 cm / Vs and an on-to-off ratio of about 10 [65]. They demonstrated that such thin-fllm transistors can detect dimethyl methylphosphonate (DMMP), a simulant for the nerve agent sarin, at sub-ppb levels [45]. SWCNT network transistors have also been transferred to polymer substrates to form flexible electronic gas sensors [66]. Other resistive sensors based on random SWCNT network [47] or MWCNT films [41] have also been reported. Besides the cost, CNT network and thin-film sensors increase the statistical reliability by averaging out the response at many adsorption sites. This is particularly important when gas concentration is extremely small. 

V-series nerve agents A class of chemical agents developed in the I950 s that act by inhibiting a key nervous system enzyme. They are generally persistent and have moderate to high toxicity. Examples are VE, VG, VM, VS, and VX. See also nerve ent. 

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