Novichok

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Novichok (Russian: Новичо́к, lit. 'newcomer, novice, newbie'[1]) is a family of nerve agents, some of which are binary chemical weapons. The agents were developed at the GosNIIOKhT state chemical research institute by the Soviet Union and Russia between 1971 and 1993.[2][3][4][5][a] Some Novichok agents are solids at standard temperature and pressure, while others are liquids. Dispersal of solid form agents is thought possible if in ultrafine powder state.[7]

Russian scientists who developed the nerve agents claim they are the deadliest ever made, with some variants possibly five to eight times more potent than VX,[8][9] and others up to ten times more potent than soman.[10] Iran has also been associated with the production of such chemical agents.[11]

In the 21st century, Novichok agents came to public attention after they were used to poison opponents of the Russian government, including the Skripals and two others in Amesbury, UK (2018), as well as Alexei Navalny (2020), but civil poisonings with this substance have been known since at least 1995.

In November 2019, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which is the executive body for the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), added the Novichok agents to "list of controlled substances" of the CWC "in one of the first major changes to the treaty since it was agreed in the 1990s" in response to the 2018 poisonings in the UK.[12]

  1. ^ Klein, Alice (13 March 2018). "What are Novichok nerve agents and did Russia do it?". NewScientist.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference lowe was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Chai PR, Hayes BD, Erickson TB, Boyer EW (January 2018). "Novichok agents: a historical, current, and toxicological perspective". Toxicology Communications. 2 (1): 45–48. doi:10.1080/24734306.2018.1475151. PMC 6039123. PMID 30003185. S2CID 49661943.
  4. ^ a b Mirzayanov V (1995). "Dismantling the Soviet/Russian Chemical Weapons Complex: An Insider's View". Global Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction: Hearings Before the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the Committee on Governmental Affairs, 104th Cong. (Report). pp. 393–405.
  5. ^ Tucker 2006, pp. 231–233
  6. ^ Tucker 2006, p. 231
  7. ^ "Navalny 'poisoned': What are Novichok agents and what do they do?". BBC News. 2 September 2020.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Birstein was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Albats 1994, pp. 325–328
  10. ^ Croddy, Wirtz & Larsen 2001, p. 201
  11. ^ Hosseini SE, Saeidian H, Amozadeh A, Naseri MT, Babri M (30 December 2016). "Fragmentation pathways and structural characterization of organophosphorus compounds related to the Chemical Weapons Convention by electron ionization and electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry: Mass spectral studies of organophosphorus compounds related to CWC". Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry. 30 (24): 2585–2593. Bibcode:2016RCMS...30.2585H. doi:10.1002/rcm.7757. PMID 27704643.
  12. ^ Castelvecchi D (2019). "Novichok nerve agents banned by chemical-weapons treaty". Nature. doi:10.1038/d41586-019-03686-y. PMID 33244185. S2CID 213503403.


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