Fast facts on sarin | CNN

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Here is some background information on sarin, a man-made nerve agent developed for chemical warfare.

Sarin is a clear, colorless, tasteless and odorless liquid.

Sarin is an extremely volatile nerve agent due to its ability to change from a liquid to a gas.

If it evaporates into a gas, it can spread to the environment.

Sarin’s NATO designation is GB.

People are exposed to sarin through skin contact, eye contact, or by inhaling it. Sarin can also be mixed with water or food.

Sarin quickly dissipates, presenting an immediate but short-lived threat.

The main ingredient in sarin is methyl phosphonyl difluoride.

People exposed mildly or moderately usually recover completely. Severely exposed people are unlikely to survive.

runny nose
Crying eyes
small, pointed pupils
Eye pain
Blurry vision
Drooling and excessive sweating
Cough
Chest tightness
Fast breathing
Diarrhea
increased urination
Confusion
Drowsiness
Weakness
Headache
Nausea, vomiting and/or abdominal pain
Slow or fast heart rate

Loss of consciousness
seizures
Paralysis
Respiratory failure possibly leading to death

Leave the contaminated area as quickly as possible. Seek fresh air if exposure occurs indoors. If exposure is outdoors, move to higher ground as sarin is heavier than air and sinks.

Remove contaminated clothing, flush eyes with water, and wash skin with soap and water.

If swallowed, do not induce vomiting or wash with fluids.

Medical attention should be sought immediately. Antidotes are available in many hospitals.

1938 – Sarin is developed in Germany as a pesticide.

April-May 1967 – The US military secretly tests sarin in the Upper Waiakea Forest Reserve on the island of Hawaii. Testers detonate sarin-filled 155mm artillery shells to study how the nerve agent disperses in a tropical jungle. The Pentagon confirms the “Red Oak” program in November 2002.

March 16, 1988 – The Iraqi air force attacks the northern Iraqi city of Halabja with poison gases believed to include sarin, VX and other lethal compounds. Reports indicate that 5,000 people were killed in the attack. Many others suffer from vision loss, respiratory diseases, and cancer.

June 27, 1994 – In Japan, Seven people are killed and more than 500 hospitalized when the Aum Supreme Truth (or Aum Shinri Kyo) cult releases sarin gas from a truck while slowly driving through an apartment complex in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture. Another victim dies in 2008.

March 20, 1995 – The Aum Supreme Truth cult, now known as Aleph, places plastic bags of sarin gas on trains converging on Tokyo’s government district during rush hour. Thirteen people die and more than 5,000 get sick.

May 17, 2004 – A coalition convoy in Baghdad finds sarin gas in an artillery shell that had been handled as an improvised explosive device. The IED detonates when officials try to defuse it. Two members of the explosive ordnance team suffer minor exposure.

June 23, 2006 – The US Army releases a report to Congress indicating that allied forces have recovered approximately 500 weapons ammunition containing mustard gas or degraded sarin since the start of the Iraq War in 2003. The weapons were produced before the the 1991 Gulf War. However, according to New York Times October 2014 reporteven at the time of the report’s publication, the information was “out of date” and “underestimated”.

June 15, 2012 – Katsuya Takahashi, 54, the last fugitive suspect in the 1995 Tokyo subway sarin gas attacks, is captured by Japanese police, ending a 17-year manhunt.

April 25, 2013 – United States Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel announces that Syria has used sarin on a small scale, killing 150 people in the country.

August 21, 2013 – A new alleged Chemical weapons attack kills more than 1,000 people in the Syrian countryside outside its capital, Damascus. Hundreds of those killed are children.

September 1, 2013 – United States Secretary of State John Kerry announces that blood and hair samples have been taken from eastern Damascus “He tested positive for sarin signatures.”

September 16, 2013 – UN weapons inspectors return “overwhelming and indisputable” evidence of sarin use in Syria, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says.

January 4, 2016 – He United Nations publishes a report indicating that Syrians may have been exposed to sarin-like gas in 11 cases. The UN based its report on a publication by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. The origin of the gas and those responsible for its use are being investigated.

April 4, 2017 – A airstrike on a rebel-held city in northwestern Syria leaves 89 civilians dead, including children, from an alleged chemical attack using sarin gas. The United States, Türkiye and other Western states blame the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad who vehemently denies the accusation. Next week, UK scientists claim to have proof that sarin gas, or a similar substance, was used based on samples from the victims. Investigations continue to confirm the gas used and those responsible.

April 26, 2017 – French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault announces that samples taken from the attack on the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun matched those from an earlier incident. and that the evidence provides proof that the Syrian regime is responsible for carrying out the April 4 attack.

July 2018 – Sect leader Shoko Asahara and twelve other members of the Aum Shinrikyo sect They are executed for their role in the sarin gas attack in Tokyo in 1995.

May 11, 2022 – In a study, Researchers find that exposure to sarin nerve gas may be the cause of Gulf War sickness, a condition that affects US veterans of the 1990-1991 Gulf War.