When we think of chemical weapons, we think back to the horrors of World War 1, where chemicals like chlorine, phosgene, and mustard gas inflicted terrible damage to human bodies. Or perhaps we think of later incidents, such as in Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Tokyo, where advanced nerve agents like Sarin exacted a terrible toll. Or perhaps we look to modern uses by western nations that are able to get away with raining tear gas and white phosphorus on civilians. What we conventionally think of as chemical weapons are vicious toxins that damage the human body in a variety of ways, whether it be through their caustic activity that damages respiratory passages and skin, or the nerve agents that interfere with cellular function. Some attempts have been made, however, to look into the use of psychoactive chemical weapon to cause psychological harm or incapacitation to their victims.
The supreme indiscriminate cruelty of chemical weapons has led to widespread agreements condemning and nominally banning their use in warfare (though curiously, compounds like 2-chlorobenzalmalononitrile, better known as teargas, are still frequently used against civilians worldwide). The Geneva protocol officially banned their deployment in 1925, though there were no rules against production, testing, and stockpiling of chemical weapons, which still saw limited use and mass production in World War 2. Indeed many nations saw the production of massive chemical weapons stockpiles since becoming signatories to this protocol, and indeed many new ones such as nerve agents were developed since then. It wasn't until 1993 that an international agreement was put in place to prohibit production and destroy stockpiles of chemical weapons.
In the time between 1925 and 1993 the United States poured a great deal of resources into developing and producing chemical weapons. There was particular interest in psychoactive chemical weapons- in incapacitating victims without leaving a scar on their body. One of the most notorious projects to develop and test chemical weapons was project MKUltra (which I wrote about extensively for this article), which mainly tested the potential to weaponize psychedelics. Lesser known however, are the Edgewood Arsenal Human Experiments.
The Edgewood Arsenal Human Experiments were a series of classified studies conducted by the U.S. Army at the Edgewood Arsenal in Maryland between 1955 and 1975. A wide variety of chemical weapon applications and protections were tested, including the use of psychoactive agents. Unlike MKUltra, which was tested on many people without their consent, the Edgewood Arsenal Experiments were tested on volunteer army personnel. They were not however, prepared for the horrors they would be exposed to.
The psychoactive compounds tested in these experiments include a variety of familiar chemicals like LSD, PCP, and various synthetic cannabinoids. Of particular interest however, are Anticholinergics that were tested, better known as Deliriants, a class of chemicals notorious for inducing hallucinations through a psychosis-like state, where the user has difficulty distinguishing hallucinations from reality.
Some of the deliriants that were tested will be detailed below. Almost all of the information on them comes from a series of summary reports on the experiments published by the National Academy of Medicine from 1982-1985, along with a detailed Memoir by one of the lead scientists behind the project Dr. James S. Ketchum . All of them except BZ were invented for the purpose of being studied and are only known by a codename "EA" (For Edgewood Arsenal) followed by 4 numbers. We will specifically look at BZ, EA-3443, EA-3580, EA-3834, and EA-3167. The effects of these extremely potent drugs are remarkable and terrifying.
It is worth noting that concurrent to studies of the effects of these drugs were studies into antidotes for them. Physostigmine, the generally indicated treatment for anticholinergic overdose, proved to be effective in inhibiting the effects of all drugs mentioned here, though sometimes very high or repeated doses were necessary1.
BZ
 |
| BZ |
Best known of all of anticholinergics tested was BZ, also known as 3-Quinuclidinyl benzilate (Codenamed EA-2277). Hell if you're here you probably already know something about it- it is not particularly obscure and is widely considered to be the inspiration for the 1990 psychological horror film "Jacob's Ladder". BZ was the only antichlonergic tested that saw mass production and realistic plans for deployment in the early phases of the Vietnam War. It was thankfully ultimately abandoned and stockpiles were destroyed in 1989.
BZ was invented by Hoffman-LaRoche in 1951, initially as a series of gastrointestinal treatments. It was later taken up by the U.S. military.
BZ was tested on 354 subjects during the Edgewood Arsenal experiments. It was found to be active via almost every route- most notably via aerosolized inhalation, underlining its potential as a weapon. It owes this to its extreme potency- oral doses were active in the range of 5 μg/kg (this is a dose of 310 μg in an average human), with aerosolized doses were in the range of 11.5 μg/kg (716 μg total)1. The primary determinant of dose however, was intramuscular injection, about 5.7 μg/kg (353 μg in the average person)1
Effects from all routes of administration persisted for around 2 days, with a rapid onset, though the specific hallucinatory effects may take several hours to develop. The overall symptoms of BZ administration include all the classic anticholinergic symptoms, such as confusion, delirium, vivid open eyed hallucinations, diminished motor control, and dry mouth.
More detailed accounts of the effects of BZ can found in a few isolated reports. Dr. Ketchum summarized the effects in detail- initial phases consists of incapacitating physical effects such as sedation, muscle weakness, and confusion develop. About 12 hours in, powerful hallucinatory effects are seen. This includes many classic deliriant hallucinations like smoking "phantom cigarettes". Subjects would fight, play, and converse with imaginary hallucinated persons. Some would recognize inanimate objects as people or not even recognize the existence of real people. Perception of time was distinctly warped, with some subjects not realizing that several days had passed. An odd persistence in repetitive tasks would consume some subjects, possibly through a loop generated by failures of memory.
One notable consistent hallucination was subjects noting a red coloration of their skin. More detailed descriptions of the hallucinations describe them as such:
"Organized, complex panoramic hallucinations are most common between 24-48 hours after exposure to doses at or above the incapacitating dose. These may be benign or even entertaining – one subject descrbed with great enthusiasm a Lilliputian baseball game being played on the floor in front of him. Later, particularly during the night, the visions may be gigantic and terrifying.
Still later, in place of elephants and giant snakes, he sees rats, squirrels or spiders and gradually these diminish to become bugs or ants, which he labors to brush from his clothing and bedding. Finally, they disappear or a re correctly perceived as pieces of lint, dust, loose threads, raised markings on the door, nail heads, paint drippings or whatever would have been clearly recognized as inanimate a few hours before."
Also worth noting is that most subjects refused to acknowledge they were incapacitated or altered, despite persistent amnesia and clear loss of motor and cognitive function. In fact, when subjects began to realize they were incapacitated, it was presumed they were on the downturn of their experience.
Over 100,000 lbs of BZ were produced, enough to cover and incapacitate a small town3. It was equipped onto cluster munitions and the efficacy of dispersal was tested. Several problems in its production and deployment however, led to its eventual abandonment. It was expensive and difficult to produce, prohibitively large quantities were needed to serve its tactical purpose, it required too long for the full incapacitating effects to come on, it could be foiled with simple cloth masks as it was clearly visible when aerosolized, and its effects were unpredictable3. It wasn't scrapped because it's effects could be alarming and distressing and potentially cruel, but it simply wasn't good enough of a weapon.
EA-3443
 |
| EA-3443 |
James Ketchum noted that some of the visual effects were at times "amusing". These included a subject claiming his cigarette was too heavy (actually a pencil), a vision of real life Ernest Hemingway in Bermuda shorts, of the scientists wearing funny hats, small animals on the floor, their skin turning yellow, or friends and mysterious small children entering the room. Some were more disturbing- one subject claimed he couldn't eat until he had picked bugs out of his mouth4.
Other subjects had severe paranoia accompanied with violent outbursts, smashing furniture, smashing holes in walls, and assaulting staff.
Other disturbing psychotic hallucinations arose-
“It was like having no control over mind or body,” “… all I wanted to do was get away from whatever hallucinations I was having.”4
“I began hearing voices… I also saw… bugs, worms, one snake, a monkey and numerous rats… I thought my skin was yellow… I attempted to wipe the blood away [on nearby subject] but there was no blood.”4
Something interesting to note is that while BZ seemed to give an illusion of subjects thinking their skin was red, EA-3443 made them believe it was yellow.
Unlike BZ, subjects dosed with EA-3443 were very aware that they had been incapacitated and admitted they would not be able to perform regular tasks. The severity of this sense of incapacitation was directly proportional with the dose administered. EA-3443, similar to BZ, had a duration of about 2 days. While it showed some preferable qualities to BZ as a weapon, BZ had at this point been better established, and thus EA-3443 was never mass-produced or weaponized.
EA-3580
 |
| EA-3580 |
Doses equivalent to 8.5 μg/kg (527 μg for an average person) produced profound hallucinations and hostile behavior. Very little other information exists on the specific effects of EA-35801.
EA-3834
 |
| EA-3834 |
One researcher, HW Copelan, summarized the effects as such:
"At 3–15 min after injection, the subjects reported that they felt “high,” “light-headed,” or “dazed.” At about this time, they were unsteady in walking and particularly in turning about. Talking among the subjects became quieter, and their speech was slightly muffled, but without significant slurring. A feeling of heaviness of the eyelids and a tendency to diplopia became evident at 10–15 min after injection. Sedation, with drowsiness and dozing, were noticeable at 15–30 min. One subject (dose group not stated) reported an illusion of undulating movement in the glass of a window. Two subjects (dose groups not identified) reported hallucinations of crawling ants and of moving strings or hairs on the floor, respectively. The same two subjects recognized that they were hallucinating. There was no confusion, significant disorientation, or delirium among the subjects in this study, dryness of the mouth, blurred vision, tachycardia, and mild reddening of the conjunctivae were noted occasionally"1
Testing its specific qualities as a military incapacitant, an experiment was set up in which platoons of soldiers were to perform a mock reconnaissance mission. Some were given EA-3834, while others were given a placebo.
One soldier described:
"I start at the beginning when we were in the woods and received our shots. About 2 minutes, maybe 3, I felt a real dryness in my mouth as if I had been trying to eat the Sierra Desert. “We started across the road and walked 25 to 30 meters when I really felt the effects (slight dizziness) like after drinking 2 or 3 beers on a hot sunny day. Shortly after, I felt further effects like swaying back and forth. This got to the point where I finally lost almost complete equilibrium. Finally, we made it to our OR, and that's when things didn't seem important at all. I felt like lying down and just looking at the sky. However, they wouldn't let me do that. So I kept moving around only to be stopped by someone and told to sit down. Nothing seemed to make sense. I tried to walk away several times so the SGT made me dig a hole. I'd dig about three shovels full and then quit and start walking around again."4
While another offered:
"During this test I found that I had very little control over any of my actions. Although I seemed to have partial control over my physical actions, I could not make my mind and body function as one. It seemed as if my mind would not focus on a task long enough to get anything done."
Both of these soldiers were given doses of 8 μg/kg, the lower end of an incapacitating dose, but the results were clear- The soldiers were unable to perform their tasks with any competence and this drug had indeed had a rapid onset of incapacitating effects. Nevertheless, it generally doesn't seem as intense in nature as the other tested deliriant incapacitants.
EA-3167
 |
| The Demon King of drugs |
EA-3167 was most notable for its extreme duration, unlike that of any other psychoactive known of any class. Incapacitating effects could last anywhere from 5-10 days, which could sometimes present as a full 3 day long peak of vivid hallucinations, along with drawn out confusion, amnesia, and inhibition of speech and cognition4. Some subjects would not fully recover for almost 20 days4. After two weeks the symptoms experienced by subjects included:
"included increased irritability; mild impairment of memory, judgment, or abstraction; mental sluggishness with occasional confusion; nervousness; and tenseness. "1
Even 6 months later, a few of the subjects exposed to higher doses demonstrated:
"significant increases in the scores on the hypochondriasis, depression, hysteria, psychasthenia, schizophrenia, and mania scales"
Subjects would often have to be exposed to drawn out and extreme cumulative doses of Physostigmine (which can be toxic itself at high doses) to stave off lasting delirium4.
This is a compound that subjected people to drawn out psychological trauma with lasting deleterious effects on mental health. This goes beyond the scope of an incapacitating chemical weapon and veers into the territory of torture and punishment.
The potency of EA-3167 was in the range of other deliriants studied when given intramuscularly, 4.1 μg/kg (254 μg in an average person)1. The power of this chemical is astounding-around a quarter of a MILLIGRAM is enough to induce a 10 day marathon of incapacitated delirium, with at LEAST 3 days of full blown delirious hallucinations. That such a compound can exist and that it is even possible to affect the human mind in that way is utterly terrifying.
The extreme power of this compound brought attention from keen eyes, with some in the military noting that its effects could be given topically, even through a handshake perhaps5. Weaponization and further studies of this compound were eventually abandoned- perhaps because even for the boundless cruelty of the U.S. Military it was too extreme, but also because conducting human studies for such extended periods of time put strain on available study resources.
Ketchum concluded that:
"The consequences of being on the receiving end of an enemy attack with EA 3167 could be severe. Multiple low dose attacks over a period of several days could produce an insidious build-up of cognitive defects"4
EA-3167 was tested not only at the Edgewood Arsenal, but also at the Holmesburg Prison in Philadelphia, with money being offered to the prisoners to be subject to this extreme deliriant. Even Dr. Ketchum leading the experiments found its effects alarming, reprimanding a colleague who had left subjects in Holmesburg Prison to ride out their delirium for multiple days instead of administering an antidote4. The extreme duration of this drug led to a retrospective effort to track down subjects and determine what kind of lasting effects it may have had on them that was unlike any of the follow up tests with any of the other Edgewood Deliriants, and as mentioned before, lasting detrimental effects were observed6.
Sources and Further Reading:
1-Panel on Anticholinesterase Chemicals, Panel on Anticholinergic Chemicals, Committee on Toxicology, Board on Toxicology and Environmental Health Hazards (1982). Possible Long-Term Health Effects of Short-Term Exposure to Chemical Agents: Volume 1. National Academies Press.
2-Ketchum JS. "The human assessment of BZ." CRDL Technical Memorandum No. 20-29. US Army Report, 1963.
3-Kirby R (2006) Paradise Lost: The Psycho Agents. The CBW Conventions Bulletin 71:1-4
4-Ketchum, JS (2012). Chemical warfare secrets almost forgotten: A personal story of medical testing of Army volunteers with incapacitating chemical agents during the Cold War (1955-1975). Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse.
5-Richelson J (2002). The wizards of Langley: Inside the CIA's Directorate of Science and Technology. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
6-Hornblum, AM (2012). Acres of Skin: Human Experiments at Holmesburg Prison. Hoboken, NJ: Routledge.
No comments:
Post a Comment