Better Dying through Chemistry The study of how chemicals interact with living organisms is a very active area of chemistry, biochemistry, and medicine. Toxins are prevalent in nature from both natural and man made sources. For decades man has been poisoning his own back yard with industrial pollutants, toxic waste, factory emissions, and all the while remaining ignorant of the consequences.
Toxins are also very useful tools for ridding the world of unwanted pests. Herbicides help clear fields and reduce weeds to allow food crops to be grown. Pesticides keep loathsome pests from spreading disease and economic devastation in their wake. Poisons get rid of household pests like rodents, and the occasional cheating spouse.
The political and military use of toxic chemicals is a centuries old tradition deeply shrouded in secrecy and treachery. Poisons, a favored tool of assassins and covert operatives since ancient times, can be used to quickly and quietly dispatch a target. In modern times both the United States government and the Soviet Union have developed chemical weapons so hideously leathal they can decimate the population of an entire city in a matter of minutes. Even the Nazi’s, in their most desperate hour of defeat, refused to use chemical weapons.
Not so the US military. The government of the United States of America actively maintains massive stockpiles of deadly nerve agents, in weaponized form, in arsenals ready to be used in a moments notice. The United States federal government has also seen fit to declassify and publish all of its research material concerning the synthesis of deadly nerve agents. Obviously the government had a very good reason to freely and openly publish all of that material.
The fear that some individual will be able to synthesize a nerve agent and use it in some terrorist attack is completely unfounded. Chemical weapons are so insidiously toxic that their mere preparation would kill all but a seasoned chemist using expensive protective equipment. A far more likely scenario is that a disgruntled US military officer or federal agent will steal a canister of nerve gas and release it. The US government has oceans of chemical weapons just lying around, lackadaisical security personnel guarding the facilities, and inefficient tracking of these materials.
The chemistry of toxins, poisons, and chemical weapons is a highly rewarding exercise in scientific education. Learning about how these chemicals are made, how they interact with the human body, and how victims can be treated is a vital area of research. Knowledge of the synthesis of toxins is yet another secretive and misunderstood area of chemistry that Rogue Science is dedicated to exposing. Knowing how poisons and chemical weapons are made is an important step in identifying clandestine laboratories.
