What are Novichok agents?

Question

Asked: October 28, 20212021-10-28T15:57:09+05:30 2021-10-28T15:57:09+05:30In: GENERAL

[Deleted User] · Accepted Answer · 2021-10-28T16:02:29+05:30

Novichok nerve agent

The German government says Russia’s opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, has been poisoned with a Novichok nerve agent.

The name Novichok (A-230) 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 program codenamed Foliant.

Novichok agents are dispersed as an ultra-fine powder rather than a gas or vapor.
They can be inhaled, ingested, or absorbed through the skin.

Some variants of Novichok are thought to be five to eight times more toxic than the VX nerve agent.
While some Novichok agents are liquids, others are thought to exist in solid form. This means they could be dispersed as an ultra-fine powder.
Some of the agents are also reported to be “binary weapons”, meaning the nerve agent is typically stored as two less toxic chemical ingredients that are easier to transport, handle and store.
When these are mixed, they react to produce the active toxic agent.

All nerve agents have an antidote in atropine, but it needs to be administered as soon as possible.
A common problem is that it can take time to diagnose that a nerve agent has been used.

The work of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is carried out as part of an international control regime that governs what is, or is not, permissible as far as very toxic chemicals are concerned.
This was established by the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), to which 192 countries are signed up members.
Only four countries are outside the CWC – North Korea, Israel, Egypt, and South Sudan. They are still bound by the treaty’s provisions, under international law.
Novichoks were added to the Chemical Weapons Convention’s list of controlled substances.