The U.S. State Department accused Russia of having used a chemical weapon against Ukrainian forces in violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention.
Chloropicrin
- The US factsheet accuses Russia of using chemical agent chloropicrin in Ukraine. The chemical compound chloropicrin is used both as a warfare agent and pesticide. If inhaled, it poses a health risk.
- Also known as nitrochloroform, chloropicrin is also employed as an antimicrobial agent, and as a herbicide and nematicide.
- It’s manufactured today in a chemical reaction involving sodium hypochlorite (which in dilute form is called bleach) and nitromethane (a common industrial solvent).
- It can also be made by combining chloroform with nitric acid, which yields chloropicrin and water. It was first made for us as a poison gas in the First World War, by both the Allied and the Central Powers.
- Chloropicrin has documented irritating and tears-inducing effects on humans, and is also known to be highly toxic and carcinogenic.
- Chloropicrin can also induce vomiting, which was known to prompt soldiers to remove their masks, when they would inhale more of the gas, or other gaseous agents dispersed in the air.
Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC)
- The Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) is a multilateral treaty that bans chemical weapons and requires their destruction within a specified period of time.
- The treaty is of unlimited duration. The convention opened for signature on January 13, 1993, and entered into force on April 29, 1997.
- The CWC is implemented by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which is headquartered in The Hague.
- A unique feature of the Convention is its incorporation of the ‘challenge inspection’, whereby any State Party in doubt about another State Party’s compliance can request a surprise inspection. Under the Convention’s ‘challenge inspection’ procedure, States Parties have committed themselves to the principle of ‘any time, anywhere’ inspections with no right of refusal.
- India’s National Authority Chemical Weapons Convention (NACWC) has been established under the Chemical Weapons Convention Act, 2000 for implementing the provisions of the Convention.
- NACWC is an office in the Cabinet Secretariat, Government of India.
