What does VX do to the human body?
VX is a yellowish, odourless and tasteless liquid that disrupts the body’s nervous system to lethal effect. Ten milligrams is enough to kill a person through skin contact although it can also kill through inhalation. One of the women involved in the attack subsequently fell ill too.
Can you touch VX nerve agent?
VX is the most potent of all nerve agents. Compared with the nerve agent sarin (also known as GB), VX is considered to be much more toxic by entry through the skin and somewhat more toxic by inhalation. It is possible that any visible VX liquid contact on the skin, unless washed off immediately, would be lethal.
How do you cure VX?
Administer 2 mg atropine every 30 minutes to treat VX exposure. Initial treatment for all nerve agents is the same. Immediately administer an auto-injector antidote of atropine at 2 mg IM and 600 mg of pralidoxime chloride (combi-pens) if available; administering atropine at 2 mg IM is an effective alternative.
How long does it take for VX to evaporate?
The VX persistency is high [6] because of its low vapor pressure (8.8×10-4 mm Hg at 25 °C) and its oily liquid form. VX evaporates slowly and is expected to last days to weeks on surfaces.
How long does VX take to work?
Symptoms will appear within a few seconds after exposure to the vapor form of VX, and within a few minutes to up to 18 hours after exposure to the liquid form. VX is the most potent of all nerve agents.
How does a VX nerve agent work?
VX works like all of the other nerve agents – they attack the human body’s nervous system. VX can be absorbed through the skin or eyes. It can be inhaled, although the most likely way for this to happen is through a spray or aerosol, due to the non-volatile nature of the chemical.
How does VX kill the body?
Like other nerve agents such as sarin, VX’s lethal effects take place at the level of the cell by acting on a neurotransmitter called acetylcholine. Neurons normally rely on acetylcholine to send signals to muscles ordering them to move, and once those signals have been sent,…
What happens if VX is not turned off?
Without an “off switch,” the glands and muscles are constantly being stimulated. They may tire and no longer be able to sustain breathing function. VX is the least volatile of the nerve agents, which means that it is the slowest to evaporate from a liquid into a vapor. Therefore, VX is persistent in the environment.
What happens to the body when a nerve agent is exposed?
VX (nerve agent) On such exposure, these agents severely disrupt the body’s signaling between the nervous and muscular systems, leading to a prolonged neuromuscular blockade, flaccid paralysis of all the muscles in the body including the diaphragm, and death by asphyxiation.