TYPE OF AGENT – Nerve gas

NAME (CHEMICAL) – ethyl-nn-dimethylphosphoramidocyanidate also Dimethylaminoethoxy-cyanophophine oxide

NAME (NATO) – GA

NAME (COMMON) – Tabun (German for “Taboo”)

DATE OF DISCOVERY – 1936

MOLECULAR FORMULA – C₅H₁₁N₂O₂P

MOLECULAR WEIGHT – 162.3 g/mol

PHYSICAL STATE @ 20° C. (68° F.)  – Liquid

VAPOR DENSITY (AIR = 1.0) – 5.63

FLASH POINT – 78° C. (172° F.)

FREEZING/MELTING POINT – -50° C. (-58° F.)

BOILING POINT – 246° C. (475° F.)

DECOMPOSITION TEMPERATURE – 130° C. (266° F.)

LIQUID DENSITY – 1.073 g/cc @ 25° C. (77° F.)

VAPOR PRESSURE (mm/Hg) – 0.070 mm/Hg @ 25° C.

VOLATILITY (mg/m3) – 90 mg/m³ @ 0° C. (32° F.),  610 mg/m³ @ 25° C. (77° F.)

ODOR – Generally odorless, may have a possibly fruity or almond-like odor when less than pure

APPEARANCE – Colorless to brown liquid

SOLUBILITY – 72 g/L @ 20° C. (68° F.)

MEDIAN INCAPACITATING DOSAGE (ID50) – 300 mg-min/m³ for resting men

MEDIAN LETHAL DOSAGE (LD50) – 400 mg-min/m³ for resting men, 1,000 mg per kilogram of body weight

PERSISTENCY – Vapor persists in the environment for minutes to hours, liquid persists for hours to days

INHALATION TOXICITY – Very high, primary inhalation hazard

SKIN TOXICITY – Very high

EYE TOXICITY – Very high, much greater than absorption through skin

RATE OF ACTION – Very rapid

SYMPTOMS (PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION) – Inhibits breakdown of acetylcholine in the body, interrupting nerve signals, causes contraction of the pupils of the eyes, excessive mucus, tears, saliva, and sweat, nausea, gastrointestinal pain & vomiting, Constriction of the bronchial passages and chest tightness, spasms, convulsions, coma and death.

TREATMENT – Injections of Atropine, Pralidoxime chloride (2-PAMC1), Diazepam, supportive treatment

DURATION OF EFFECTIVENESS – Moderately low persistence agent

PROTECTION – Full gas mask with hood, impermeable clothing and overboots.

DECONTAMINATION – Wash contaminated area down with bleach slurry, dilute alkali

USE – Grenades (German only), Artillery and Mortar shells, aerial bombs, rockets, and spray

     This is the first nerve gas created in a laboratory when a German scientist was searching for a more effective insecticide to protect crops. Tabun is considered one of the most toxic substances ever made by man. The Germans never used Nerve gas during World War II as they did not have an antidote or proper field protection for their own troops. A large number of artillery shells were loaded with Tabun after a pilot plant was built to manufacture the agent. In addition to artillery shells and aerial bombs loaded with “Green Ring 3” a quantity of bursting-type chemical hand grenades were also produced. Because the plant was quickly overrun by the Soviet forces, the grenades were rarely known in the Western countries and it is very likely that none still exist. Antidotes and treatments for nerve agent poisoning were developed and produced in the United States and other NATO countries by the 1950s. It was proposed in the early 1950s that a single Soviet bomber with a load of Nerve gas bombs could cause as great a loss of life as a nuclear weapon.