BZ
| BZ (3-Quinuclidinyl benzilate) link (nerve agent) | |
|---|---|
| File:BZ.png | |
| Start | 1951 |
| Nerve agent discovered by pharmaceutical company Hoffman-LaRoche. | |
'BZ' is the NATO code for the odourless nerve agent 3-Quinuclidinyl benzilate (QNB), US Army code EA-2277 and Soviet code Substance 78.[1][2]
Discovery
BZ was discovered in 1951 by the Swiss pharmaceutical company Hoffman-LaRoche, which was investigating anti-spasmodic agents, similar to tropine, for treating gastrointestinal ailments when the chemical was discovered. It was then investigated for possible use in ulcer treatment, but was found unsuitable.
Military use
At this time the United States military investigated it along with a wide range of possible nonlethal, psychoactive incapacitating agents including psychedelic drugs such as LSD and THC, dissociative drugs such as ketamine and phencyclidine, potent opioids such as fentanyl, as well as several glycolate anticholinergics.[3][4] By 1959 the United States Army showed significant interest in deploying it as a chemical warfare agent. It was originally designated "TK", but when it was standardised by the Army in 1961 it received the NATO code name "BZ". The agent commonly became known as "Buzz" because of this abbreviation and the effects it had on the mental state of the human volunteers intoxicated with it in research studies at Edgewood Arsenal in Maryland.[5]
Skripal poisoning
On 14 April 2018, the Russian minister of foreign affairs Sergey Lavrov claimed that the Spiez Laboratory in Switzerland had detected the presence of BZ and its precursors in the samples of the substance used in the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury in March.[6] There is no independent corroboration of this and the Swiss Spiez Laboratory has referred enquries back to the OPCW.[7]
References
- ↑ http://www.newsweek.com/more-questions-answers-142453
- ↑ "Emergency Response Safety and Health Database"
- ↑ Possible Long-Term Health Effects of Short-Term Exposure To Chemical Agents, Volume 2: Cholinesterase Reactivators, Psychochemicals and Irritants and Vesicants. (1984)
- ↑ Ketchum - Chemical Warfare: Secrets Almost Forgotten (2006)
- ↑ Kirby, Reid. "Paradise Lost: The Psycho Agents", The CBW Conventions Bulletin, May 2006, Issue no. 71, pp. 2-3, accessed December 11, 2008.
- ↑ https://www.rt.com/news/424149-skripal-poisoning-bz-lavrov/
- ↑ https://twitter.com/SpiezLab/status/985243574123057152
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