Key Points on Sarin: The ‘Most Volatile’ of Nerve Agents
According to the United States military, sarin is 81 times as toxic as cyanide
and 543 times as toxic as chlorine, which has been used in Syria as a chemical weapon.
By RUSSELL GOLDMANAPRIL 6, 2017
The victims of a bombing in northern Syria this week were exposed to sarin, a banned but easily manufactured poison
that has been widely used in chemical weapons, Turkish officials who conducted autopsies on the victims said on Thursday.
All nerve agents belong to a class of organic compounds
that contain phosphorous, and work in essentially the same way, by inhibiting the action of a crucial enzyme in the body that allows muscles and organs to contract.
Sarin is a nerve agent, one of a class of chemical weapons
that affect the brain’s ability to communicate with the body’s organs through the nervous system.
On the battlefield, sarin and other nerve agents can be used against targets by spraying them as a liquid or an aerosol.
"This means it can easily and quickly evaporate from a liquid into a vapor
and spread into the environment." Sarin vapor does not last long, but it can be deadly if inhaled.
The Syrian government agreed in 2013 to destroy its chemical weapons stockpile, including sarin.