Properties of Chemical Agents

Xue Y, Li ZR, Yap CW, Sun I.Z, Chen X, Chen YZ. Effect of molecular descriptor feature selection in support vector machine classification of pharmacokinetic and toxicological properties of chemical agents. J Chem Inf Comput Sci 2004 44 1630-8. 

C Physical Properties of Chemical Agents in Munitions Stored at Blue Grass Army Depot and Pueblo Chemical Depot, 59... 

Properties of Chemical Agents The agents of primary concern in this guidance are the nerve agents GB, and VX and the blister agents H and... 

Summary of the Effects and Physical Properties of Chemical Agents 5-19... 

Table 5-S Physical Properties of Chemical Agents (continued) 5-28...

TACTICAL AND STRATEGIC USE OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS Chemical Agent Delivery Systems Physical Properties of Chemical Agents Strategic Concerns in the Use of Toxins Choice of Agent and Delivery System Detection and Protection... 

The physical properties of chemical agents are highly variable. They range from nerve agent vapor, which usually dissipates in a few minutes to a few hours, to vesicants such as mustard, which can remain active for weeks (or in some cases, years buried and recovered World War I mustard projectiles are often still quite toxic). It is imperative, then, that timely decontamination of the skin and personal equipment that has been exposed to agent, especially liquid agent, be completed. Skin decontamination should take place within 2 minutes if possible, and equipment decontamination should be completed within 1 hour. 

Quantitative analysis and well documented protocols with bioassays are essential for making rational judgements about the biological properties of chemical agents, whether they are food additives or food contaminants. However, when the materials or time for conducting such an analysis are not available, one must resort to a spot or diffusion bioassay. 

Effect of Molecular Descriptor Feature Selection in Support Vector Machine Classification of Pharmacokinetic and Toxicological Properties of Chemical Agents. 

Substances with high vapor pressure evaporate rapidly. Those with low vapor pressure evaporate slowly. The impact of vapor pressure on the rate of evaporation makes vapor pressure a very important property in considering the tactical use and duration of effectiveness of chemical agents. A potential chemical agent is valuable for employment when it has a reasonable vapor pressure. One with exceptionally high vapor pressure is of limited use. It vaporizes and dissipates too quickly. Examples are arsine and carbon monoxide. On the other hand, mechanical or thermal means may effectively aerosolize and disseminate solid and liquid agents of very low vapor pressure. Vapor pressure and volatility are related. Translated into volatility, vapor pressure is most understandable and useful. 

For less well defined incidents however, these detection systems may be inadequate. Portable chemical detectors may not be able to be deployed to the site, not detect the agen, or give inconclusive results. Clinical findings may be non-specific, present in an atypical manner, or for example in the case of sulphur mustard, have a latency period that delays firm pattern recognition. Due to the physico-chemical properties of the agent or the time between release and collection, environmental samples may have low agent levels or sufficiently high contaminants to prevent adequate results. 

The Original Seven Candidate Technologies Under Consideration for the ACWA Program, 16 1-2 Physical Properties of Chemical Warfare Agents, 19... 

TABLE 1-2 Physical Properties of Chemical Warfare Agents... 

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