What are chemical weapons?

CHEMICAL weapons are some of the most deadly threats in modern warfare.

Defined as weapons of mass destruction as they can be widely dispersed, often without loud explosions.

Chemical weapons can come in many different forms, some are gas and others are liquid or solids.

Tear gas and pepper spray are two more commonly known and used chemical weapons.

These are non-lethal chemical weapons that are legal in riot control and policing.

Pepper spray does have the possibility to become lethal in certain circumstances due to it’s impact on the victim’s airways.

Chemical weapons are classed as weapons of mass destruction, along with nuclear bombs.

During World War II, Nazis infamously used chemical weapons in the gas chambers at concentration camps.

The Holocaust remains the largest death toll due to this type of warfare ever.

Are chemical weapons legal?

In 1993, 165 nations signed the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) which entered into force four years later.

The treaty prohibits the stockpiling, production, development and large scale use of all chemical weapons.

This number has increased to 193 parties, with over 98% of the world’s declared chemical weapons stockpile destroyed.

Using any weapon that is classed as toxic by the treaty is forbidden but non-toxic weapons may be used.

Three classes of chemicals exist to allow for research and legitimate small scale manufacturing.

Schedule 1 chemicals are only used for chemical weapons, manufacturing anything more than 100g per year must be declared.

Countries cannot possess more than 1 tonne of the materials, although some do have non-military applications.

Schedule 2 can be manufactured and exported as long as it is declared.

Finally, schedule 3 substances might be able to create chemical weapons but they also have wide-spread usage outside of this.

Chemical weapons are particularly damaging because they may afflict people surrounding targets as well as the target with little control.