A VICIOUS KILLER
Russian spy Sergei Skripal ‘poisoned with nerve agent’ – the horrific toll deadly sarin gas inflicts on the body, revealed
EX-Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter were poisoned with sarin gas, it emerged today.
The pair were "targeted specifically" when they were dosed by the rare and deadly nerve agent, Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley confirmed.
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The ex-spy, 66, and Yulia, 33, are fighting for their lives in hospital after they were both found slumped over in a shopping centre in Salisbury.
Meanwhile, a police officer - who was the first cop on the scene - remains seriously ill.
Sarin gas is a highly toxic, lethal nerve agent, even in the smallest of doses - and even more deadly for children.
The man-made nerve agent, was originally made as an insecticide, in Germany in 1938.
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It is clear, colourless and has no taste or odour in its pure form.
It belongs to a group of chemicals called organophosphates, and is extremely poisonous.
Professor Rod Flower, emeritus professor of pharmacology at Queen Mary University of London and fellow of the Royal Society, told The Sun Online the agent is "very volatile", making it a highly dangerous.
"If you leave it around in a room it will evaporate very quickly," he said.
"That's why its so easy to use as a chemical weapon, because it evaporates quickly.
"It is extremely poisonous if you breathe it in. Victims will become very ill, very quickly, within minutes, literally just a couple of breaths."
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Witnesses to the deadliest nerve-gas attack in Syria in four years, last April described seeing victims foaming at the mouth and suffering fits.
Hussain Kayal, 26, one of the first on the scene, told The Times: "I felt intense pain in my throat as it started to close.
"I felt paralysed.
";Inside the houses we found sleeping families choking.
"They were having seizures.
"Their noses were full of foam and their eyes were half closed.
It is extremely poisonous if you breathe it in. Victims will become very ill, very quickly, within minutes, literally just a couple of breaths
Professor Rod Flower
"People were suffocating in front of our eyes."
Sarin gas interferes with the nervous system, Prof Flower explained.
The job of the nervous system is to pass messages from the brain to other parts of the body - telling it what to do.
In order for those chemical messages to reach different parts of the body, they have jump from one nerve to another, across a gap.
Sarin nerve gas interferes with those chemical messages, in such a way that just a short exposure will stop the messages being transmitted properly.
THE IMMEDIATE SIGNS A PERSON HAS BEEN EXPOSED TO SARIN GAS
Sarin is a clear and colourless gas, so people may not know they have been exposed.
Those exposed to a low or medium dose of sarin gas by breathing contaminated air, eating contaminated food, drinking contaminated water or touching a contaminated surface may experience symptoms within seconds, according to the Centers for disease Control and Prevention in the US (CDC).
In others it may take hours for symptoms to appear.
hose who have been exposed may experience:
- runny nose
- watery eyes
- small pupils
- eye pain
- blurred vision
- drooling and excessive sweating
- a cough
- tightness in the chest
- rapid breathing
- diarrhoea
- nausea and vomiting
- weeing more often
- confusion
- drowsiness
- weakness
- headache
- slow or fast heart rate
- low or high blood pressure
Exposure to larger amounts of the nerve agent can have much more harmful, if not fatal, effects.
People may experience:
- loss of consciousness
- convulsions
- paralysis
- respiratory failure leading to death
Prof Flower described it as being like a light switch being permanently "on".
"It's like a continuous stimulation of the nerves," he said.
"Ultimately death is caused by asphyxia, as the muscles used for breathing become paralysed.
"But, before that, it causes nasty symptoms."
The first sign is typically drooling uncontrollably at the mouth, Prof Flower explained.
"This is very, very common," he said.
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"What happens is the nerves get jammed in the position of continuous stimulation in the salivary glands, and the mucus glands, causing a runny nose.
"Victims will notice an upset stomach and nausea.
"And you will want to empty your bladder and bowels in a hurry.
"And you will begin to be unable to breathe.
HOW CAN PEOPLE PROTECT THEMSELVES?
Sarin gas does have antidotes, but they have to be administered quickly.
If a person has been exposed to the gas they should leave the area immediately, go to the highest possible ground because sarin will sink in the atmosphere, according to the CDC.
Remove and dispose of all clothes so they don’t take any contamination with them.
They should also try and wash straight away to get any of the chemical off of their skin and out of their hair.
As long as the chemical is left on the body, it will continue to poison it.
Treatment consists of removing sarin from the body as soon as possible and providing urgent medical care.
Antidotes, like atrophine, are most effective if they are administered as soon as possible after exposure.
"It is very unpleasant. Death can occur within minutes."
Even if a person isn't exposed to a lethal dose, the gas can cause nasty side-effects, damaging the nervous system, often permanently.
There are antibodies, Prof Flower added.
Medics can give victims atrophine via injection.
"It works very quickly," he told The Sun Online.
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"It reverses the effects of the nerve gas on the chemical transmissions."
While breathing in sarin gas is among the most common ways people become infected, one of the problems is its ability to cling to a victim's clothes.
"That's why you will see pictures and footage of people ripping victims' clothes off," Prof Flower explained.
"Their clothes themselves can become fatal, and can contaminate other people, delivering the poisonous gas to a third party."
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