What are nerve agents?

Home / Resources

Image source: DVIDS
Image source: DVIDS

POSTED:  October 4, 2025

What are nerve agents?

Nerve agents are a part of the organophosphate family. They are intended to harm and eliminate adversaries by interacting with cholinesterase, a plasma enzyme that plays a crucial role in the performance of the nervous system. Nerve agents primarily affect their victims through varying neurological disorders accompanied by a total loss of muscle function and cardiovascular or respiratory failure. They impede cholinesterase from carrying out normal processes. Consequently, there is a loss of communication between the brain and nerve endings, resulting in energized nerves that create hyperactivity in the organs. Nerve agents can cause death from respiratory failure due to the damage sustained to both the respiratory muscles and the respiratory center of the nervous system [1].

Nerve agents listed as Schedule 1 agents by the Chemical Weapons Convention include (1) tabun (GA), (2) sarin (GB), (3) soman (GD), (4) VX, and (5) cyclosarin [2]. Each has its own distinct physical properties but produces similar symptoms. Constriction of pupils (miosis), clouded vision, runny nose, tight chest, shortness of breath, headache, salivation, muscle spasms, sweating, vomiting, heavy fatigue, interim lack of breathing (apnea), paralysis from reduced muscle tone (flaccid paralysis), profuse nasal discharge, intensified miosis (pinpoint pupils), diarrhea, hardness of breath, or a complete loss in breathing, paralysis, muscular twitching, defecation, urination, coma, and death are common. It is important to note that the severity of symptoms depends largely on dosage and exposure route (inhalation, ingestion, skin, and eyes) [3].

Relevant Applications to the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD)

Novichok Poisonings

Novichoks, sometimes referred to as fourth-generation agents, are a family of nerve agents developed in Russia. Two attacks involving Novivhoks have taken place—one in 2018 and one in 2020 [4].

The Civil War in Syria

There have been relatively recent use cases of the nerve agent sarin in Syria. It was released in Ghouta, Syria, in 2013 and again in northern Syria in 2017. There were 1,400 casualties in the attack in 2013 and more than 80 civilian casualties in 2017 [5].

The Iran-Iraq War

The nerve agents tabun and sarin were commonly used in combination with mustard gas by Iraq in the Iran-Iraq War and resulted in around 45,000 Iranian casualties [6].

Additional Resources

Latest Related News/Articles

References

[1] Facts: Characteristics of Nerve Agents (Program Executive Office Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives)

[2] Chemical Weapons Convention (Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons)

[3] Chemical Quick Reference Guides (The U.S. National Response Team)

[4] Putin’s poisons: 2020 attack on Aleksey Navalny (U.S. Embassy in Georgia)

[5] Chemical Warfare Agents – Old Problems and New Challenges (Bundeswehr Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology)

[6] Medical Aspects of Chemical and Biological Warfare: Chapter 5 – Nerve Agents (Office of the Surgeon General, U.S. Department of the Army)