How Dangerous Are Chemical Weapons?
Chemical weapons belong to the category of weapons of mass destruction just like nuclear and biological weapons.
A warfare weapon can be said to be a chemical weapon if it has a specialized munition that uses chemicals formulated to inflict death or harm on humans.
Any chemical that is toxic and capable of causing death, injury, temporary incapacitation, or sensory irritation when inhaled or exposed within a surrounding has automatically become a weapon, hence using such in a warfare situation can be termed a chemical weapon.
The danger chemical weapons can cause cannot be fixed, because many factors can be present to aid the chemical reaction or reduce its reactions.
The condition in which such chemical is being discharged can also contribute to the severity of its effect on humans.
Chemicals are known to cause spontaneous reactions and can be very dangerous when used as a chemical weapon because their reactions can outrun the humans trying to make an escape from the surrounding it was discharged.
According to the Organization for the Prohibition of chemical weapons (OPCW), any chemical with the above characteristics had been prohibited by the United Nations for any war situation.
It is believed that at the advanced level of it, such chemicals can be improved upon to become a warfare weapon of mass destruction. Capable of wiping out an entire city if properly discharged.
The popular military acronym NBC means Nuclear, Biological, and chemical warfare, the weapon of this warfare is different from the conventional weapons such as guns, explosives, and manual weapons (because they all operate with their kinetic energy transferred to them), the nuclear, biological and chemical weapons had been termed as weapons of mass destruction and had been among the prohibited weapons to be used carelessly in any war situation.
The danger of a chemical weapon is that it can be dispersed to the opponent without firing a shot, a silent massive killer, and a long-lasting reactive weapon in any warfare.
It is believed that when such a chemical is dispersed inside the water or any liquid its destructive properties will still remain active for days causing more harm until it has been detected and neutralized.
Chemical weapons may not actually be fired like tear gas or missiles rather can simply be injected into water streams, air, or solid substances like foods, clothes, creams, etc. the harm it can cause will depend on the concentration and type of the chemical.
Notwithstanding their mass destruction ability, chemical weapons have the disadvantage of not hitting the actual target or combination of both the targeted zone and non-targeted zone.
It also has the disadvantage of either performing below expectations or above expectations. The use of the weapon can be the reversal which means a slight mistake can cause the chemical to be dispersed within its storage zone to cause the intended damage to its user.
In the real term, chemical weapons may not actually be safer or more destructive than nuclear and biological weapons, such properties can only be determined based on the prevailing factors in the use, size, quality, conciseness, and compressibility of any of the categories.
Summary
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