Development and Human Testing of Chemical Warfare Agents and Means of Treatment of Lesions in Germany in 1933–1945

Despite serious attention to the issues of war crimes and crimes against humanity, committed on an unprecedented scale in concentration camps in Nazi Germany, the problem of medical experiments on prisoners appears to be one of the least-studied in modern Russian historiography. Moreover, no special attention was paid to testing chemical weapons on humans. The aim of this work is to review the history of the development and testing of chemical warfare agents (CWA) in Germany in 1933–1945. During the First World War, Germany was one of the leading countries in the sphere of military chemistry in the world. After the Versailles treaty this potential was largely lost as a result of the restrictions. After the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP) came to power, Germany not only restored, but also increased its military power and achieved a qualitative superiority over its opponents in the field of chemical weapons. The tests of CWA, as well as the study of the effectiveness of the means and protocols for the treatment of the lesions caused by CWA, were carried out both by the military structures of the Wehrmacht and the SS, and by civilian research and academic institutions. Experiments on prisoners were carried out in the concentration camps of Dachau, Ravensbrück, Auschwitz-Birkenau, Buchenwald, Sachsenhausen, Natzweiler-Struthof, Neuengamme, etc. Basically, the damaging effects of sulfur mustard and phosgene was investigated. In Auschwitz-Birkenau «a study of the action of various chemical preparations was carried out on the orders of German firms». After the war several SS doctors, who performed involuntary experiments on humans, were convicted by military tribunals for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Seven doctors were sentenced to death and executed on June 2, 1948, at the prison for war criminals in Landsberg, Bavaria. As a result of the Nuremberg trials, the Nuremberg Code was drawn up. It was the first international document that introduced ethical standards for scientists engaged in experiments on humans. It consisted of 10 principles, including the necessity of voluntary informed consent of the patient for the participation in medical experiments after providing him with full information about the nature, duration and purpose of the experiment; on the methods of its implementation; about all the perceived inconveniences and dangers associated with the experiment, and, finally, the possible consequences for the physical or mental health of the subject, which may arise as a result of his participation in the experiment.

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Medicine Without Humanity – Chemical Warfare Agents Tests on Concentration Camps in Germany in 1933–1945

Journal of NBC Protection Corps ◽

10.35825/2587-5728-2021-5-1-83-87 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

pp. 83-87

Keyword(s):

Effective Means ◽

Chemical Warfare Agents ◽

Medical Intervention ◽

Chemical Warfare ◽

Law School ◽

Concentration Camps ◽

Chemical Weapons ◽

Chemical Research ◽

Nuremberg Code ◽

Warfare Agents

The publication presents documents related to the Nuremberg Doctors' Trial ("United States of America v. Karl Brandt et al."), Held in Nuremberg from December 9, 1946 to August 20, 1947. Documents are kept in the library of Harvard Law School (Harvard Law School , Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA). From the testimony of witnesses and the accused, it follows that in Germany, after the withdrawal from the Treaty of Versailles and the transition of military chemical research under the control of military structures and the SS, and especially during the Second World War, research on chemical warfare agents (CWA) went beyond scientific and industrial laboratories. , university and academic structures, and moved to concentration camps, where doctors from the SS performed experiments on prisoners. The goals and objectives of these tests are shown - the physiological and toxicological properties of CWA were studied. Plans for offensive chemical warfare in Germany were not systematically developed, considering their chemical weapons as a means of retaliatory use. However, the possibility of such a war was taken seriously. In addition, doctors were looking for the most effective means and treatment regimens for lesions caused by the use of BWA by a potential enemy, as well as dangerous, especially dangerous and widespread diseases. The documents show how important this research was. They were watched at the highest level, the test programs were coordinated with the SS Reichsfuehrer G. Himmler, A. Hitler was personally interested in them. At the same time, the documents show the barbaric methods of carrying out these tests, for which the doctors and leaders of medicine in Germany in the 1930-1940s. were convicted by tribunals for war crimes and crimes against humanity (“atrocities and hostile acts, including (but not limited to): murder, extermination, enslavement, expulsion, imprisonment, torture, rape or other inhuman acts committed against any civilian population, persecution on political, racial or religious grounds, regardless of whether these crimes were committed in violation of the laws of the country or not ”), and by the scientific community - for gross violations of medical and scientific ethics. Although at one time it was Germany (Prussia) at the end of the nineteenth century. was the first European country where, long before the Nuremberg Code of 1947, at the levels of the legislative, executive and judicial branches of government, they began to raise and decide the need to obtain informed consent of the patient for medical intervention, and also unconditionally prohibit experimental research with any purpose in humans without them consent. With this publication we open a series of materials and articles on chemical weapons in Germany in 1933-1945. Not Germany to accuse Russia of using chemical weapons.

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Novel analytical approaches to determination of chemical warfare agents and related compounds for verification of nonproliferation of chemical weapons

Pure and Applied Chemistry ◽

10.1515/pac-2016-1208 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 89 (10) ◽

pp. 1491-1503 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Igor V. Rybalchenko ◽

Igor A. Rodin ◽

Timur M. Baygildiev ◽

Andrey N. Stavrianidi ◽

Arcady V. Braun ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Analytical Methods ◽

Sulfur Mustard ◽

Degradation Products ◽

Chemical Warfare Agents ◽

Chemical Warfare ◽

Chemical Weapons ◽

Mass Spectral ◽

Fast Screening ◽

Warfare Agents ◽

Analytical Approaches

AbstractIn this paper a summary of the author’s approaches for investigation of the mass spectral behavior of some chemical warfare agents (CWAs), their degradation products and metabolites, as well as the results of development of analytical methods for confirmation of nerve and blister agents application are presented. Hydrolysis and oxidation metabolites of nerve agents, sulfur mustard and lewisite were used as biomarkers of the exposure. Sensitive analytical methods have been developed for their detection, based mainly on tandem mass spectrometry coupled with liquid chromatography. Several techniques for fast screening of CWAs degradation products based on capillary electrophoresis were also proposed. Some of developed approaches were successfully applied in the frame of the proficiency testing system of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.

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Detecting explosives and chemical weapons: a review of recent developments

Sensor Review ◽

10.1108/sr-12-2014-0754 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 35 (3) ◽

pp. 237-243 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Robert Bogue

Keyword(s):

New Technologies ◽

Electrochemical Techniques ◽

Health And Safety ◽

Chemical Warfare Agents ◽

Chemical Warfare ◽

Optical Methods ◽

Chemical Weapons ◽

Content Type ◽

Recent Developments ◽

Warfare Agents

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide details of recent developments in sensors for detecting explosives and chemical warfare agents. Design/methodology/approach – Following an introduction, this paper first discusses a selection of new sensing techniques aimed at detecting explosives and explosive devices. It then considers new developments in sensors for detecting chemical warfare agents. Brief concluding comments are drawn. Findings – This paper shows that a diversity of sensor technologies is being investigated, including various advanced optical methods, nanomaterials, microelectromechanical system, electronic noses, biosensors and electrochemical techniques, several of which offer levels of sensitivity in the parts-per-trillion region. These not only have the potential to yield improved devices for detecting explosives and chemical weapons but may also play a role in health care, environmental monitoring, drug detection and industrial health and safety. Originality/value – In an era of escalating terrorism and military conflicts, this provides a timely review of new technologies for detecting explosives and chemical warfare agents.

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Verification of the Chemical Weapons Convention: Mass Spectrometry of Alkyl Methylphosphonofluoridates

Australian Journal of Chemistry ◽

10.1071/ch9942065 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 47 (11) ◽

pp. 2065 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

VT Borrett ◽

RJ Mathews ◽

ER Mattsson

Keyword(s):

Analytical Data ◽

Chemical Warfare Agents ◽

Chemical Warfare ◽

Chemical Weapons ◽

Screening Methods ◽

Industrial Sites ◽

Chemical Weapons Convention ◽

Warfare Agents ◽

The Individual ◽

Related Compounds

Under the provisions of the United Nations Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), certain parts of chemical industry will be monitored to verify compliance with the Convention. This will include analysis of samples from industrial sites to check for the presence or absence of chemical warfare related compounds. One of the problems in screening the chemicals to be monitored under the CWC is that certain classes of chemical warfare agents are represented as families of chemicals, with many of the individual chemicals having no analytical data available. One example is the alkyl methylphosphonofluoridate family with an alkyl ester substituent from CH3 to C10H21. In this work, the mass spectra of 60 alkyl methylphosphonofluoridate family members have been studied to enable the development of rapid on-site screening methods for this family of chemicals.

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Conventional analytical methods for chemical warfare agents

Pure and Applied Chemistry ◽

10.1351/pac200274122281 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 74 (12) ◽

pp. 2281-2291 ◽

Cited By ~ 101

Author(s):

H. H. Hill ◽

S. J. Martin

Keyword(s):

Ion Mobility ◽

Analytical Methods ◽

Analytical Data ◽

Chemical Warfare Agents ◽

Chemical Warfare ◽

Chemical Weapons ◽

Field Verification ◽

Detection And Identification ◽

Chemical Weapons Convention ◽

Warfare Agents

Analytical methods that are currently used for the detection and identification of chemical warfare agents are reviewed and classified by the number of dimensions of information they provide. Single dimensional sensors target specific compounds or classes of compounds. Although they can be less expensive and more portable than multidimensional sensors, multidimensional sensors detect a broader threat spectrum with greater precision and accuracy. The recommendation for analytical field verification during inspections under the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) is to use simple two-dimensional analytical methods, such as gas chromatography (GC) or ion mobility spectrometry (IMS), for on-site screening of chemical weapons (CW) agents or to fully equip a modern, mobile analytical laboratory located in an airplane, which can be moved rapidly throughout the world to each inspection site and provide high-quality analytical data on-site.

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Oxidation of Chemical Warfare Agents in Supercritical Water

Advanced Materials Research ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/amr.356-360.2610 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 356-360 ◽

pp. 2610-2615

Author(s):

Lian Yuan Wang ◽

Meng Meng Ma ◽

Xiao Chun Hu ◽

Guo Min Zuo ◽

Hai Yan Zhu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Reaction Temperature ◽

Supercritical Water ◽

Water Oxidation ◽

Sulfur Mustard ◽

Organic Phosphorus ◽

Batch Reactor ◽

Chemical Warfare Agents ◽

Sulfur Oxidation ◽

Chemical Warfare ◽

Warfare Agents

Oxidation of chemical warfare agents (CWAs) such as Sulfur Oxidation of chemical warfare agents (CWAs) such as Sulfur Mustard (HD) and Soman (GD) and their simulants 2-chloroethyl ethyl sulfide (2-CEES) and dimethyl methylphosphonate (DMMP) in supercritical water were studied by a batch reactor. Results showed that HD, GD and their simulants 2-CEES and DMMP could be effectively destroyed into their corresponding mineral compounds by supercritical water oxidation (SCWO). The mineral ratio was a function of reaction temperature, reaction time and oxidant concentration. But reaction temperature seemed to have more important effect on the mineral ratio than other two factors. Sulfur compounds 2-CEES and HD could easily be mineralized under 475°C and the inorganic products were mainly SO32- and SO42- , while complete oxidation of organic phosphorus reactants GD and DMMP needed a high temperature of >600°C. And under relatively low temperature, DMMP tended to form a white organic phosphorus polymer with P-C and P-O-P bonds. Results also indicated that P-F bond was more easily broken than P-C bond.

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