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Weapons, Chemical

Chemical weapons are toxic substances that are usually released in a gaseous or vaporous format to produce lethal or incapacitating effects in humans or animals. Along with nuclear and biological weapons, chemical weapons are often described as weapons of mass destruction due to their potential for disproportionate destructiveness, the undue suffering they inflict, and the inability to use them to target combatants while not affecting noncombatants.

Types of Chemical Weapons

There are several varieties of chemical weapons, distinguished by the different physiological effects they produce. For example, choking agents (or lung-damaging agents) such as phosgene (North Atlantic Treaty Organization weapon designation: CG), diphosgene (DP), chlorine gas (CL), or chloropicrin (PS) produce severe irritation of the respiratory tract and/or pulmonary edema, or fluid buildup in the lungs. Nerve ...

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