Nerve agent

Subject: Science and tech

Context:

Tests performed on Russian politician Alexei Navalny at the German hospital showed the presence of Soviet-era nerve agent Novichok.

Concept:

• The name Novichok means “newcomer” in Russian, and applies to a group of advanced nerve agents developed by the Soviet Union in the 1970s and 1980s.
• They were known as fourth-generation chemical weapons and were developed under a Soviet programme codenamed Foliant.
• Some variants of Novichok are thought to be five to eight times more toxic than the VX nerve agent
• They are highly toxic chemicals that prevent the nervous system from working properly, and can be fatal.
• Nerve agents take different forms – including powder and gas – but they tend to be a liquid, which can seep through the skin.
• Some of the agents are also reported to be ‘binary weapons’, meaning the nerve agent is typically stored as two less toxic chemicals. When they are mixed together, they react to produce the more toxic agent.

• Nerve agents disrupt normal messaging from the nerves to the muscles. This causes muscles to become paralysed and can lead to the loss of many bodily functions.
• Agents will act within seconds or minutes if inhaled and slightly more slowly if exposure is the result of skin contamination.