The chemical structure and mechanism of action of a top-secret family of nerve agents known as novichoks could soon be included in the list of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).
The term novichok (meaning "novice" in Russian) was given by Western scientists to a class of rarely used nerve agents that were developed in the Soviet Union and in Russia between the 1971 and the beginning of the 90 years.
The first public discussion of the existence of these agents took place in the early 90s, when Vil Mirzayanov, a chemical warfare expert working for the Soviet army, revealed their existence. However, Western intelligence agencies have discouraged public scientific research on these nerve agents, fearing that such activities could reveal their chemical structure and mechanism of action. This could have facilitated the proliferation of novichok nerve agents around the world.
But this attitude changed drastically after 2018 in March, when - according to British intelligence - Russian spies used the Novichok in an attempt to kill Sergei Skripal, a Russian deserter, protected by Britain. The British government claims that Russian spies have smuggled Novichok into Great Britain by hiding it inside a perfume bottle.
The attack on Skripal and her daughter failed, but prompted the United States, Canada and the Netherlands to propose that two categories of novichok be chemically identified and added to the CWC list of chemical weapons.
With this proposal, OPCW members, including Russia, will be required to promptly declare and destroy any stock of novichok in their possession.
Russia's initial reaction saw strong opposition to the proposal from the United States, Canada and the Netherlands. The Russian OPCW delegation questioned the scientific validity of the proposal and rejected it as a political solution.
However, according to a report published yesterday in the leading scientific journal Science, Moscow has now agreed with the proposal to list two classes of novichok in the CWC list and has even proposed to add a third class of the obscure nerve agent. Russia has also proposed the inclusion in the CWC list of two families of carbamates, organic compounds with insecticidal properties, which are believed to have included in their arsenal of chemical weapons during the Cold War.
According to the Science report, the OPCW Executive Council has already approved Russia's proposal, which means that the organization is now close to classifying novichoks as Annex 1 nerve agents. In that case, academic researchers in the West and elsewhere they will be able for the first time to collaborate with defense laboratories in order to research the chemical structure, as well as the mechanism of action, of the novichoks. This will likely produce models that shed light on novichok symptoms and various treatment methods. But they will also provide information on the chemical structure of the nerve agent.
Nerve agents Novichok
The name Novichok means "newcomer" in Russian and is attributed to a group of advanced nerve agents developed by the Soviet Union in the 1970s and 1980s.
These are fourth-generation chemical weapons, developed under a Soviet program called "Foliant".
In the 1999, US defense officials traveled to Uzbekistan to help dismantle and decontaminate one of the largest chemical weapons analysis facilities in the Soviet Union.
According to a senior defector from the Russian army, the Soviets used the plant to produce and test small batches of Novichok.
The former military also revealed that these nerve agents were designed to escape detection by international inspectors.
Il Novichoks A-230 it is estimated to be from 5 to 8 times more toxic than nerve gas VX, classified by the United Nations as a weapon of mass destruction and used, according to the United States, also for the murder of the half-brother of the North Korean president Kim Jong-un in February 2017.
"This is a more dangerous and sophisticated agent than the Sarin or of VX and it is more difficult to identify, "said Professor Gary Stephens, a pharmacology expert at the University of Reading.
Numerous variations of the have been produced Novichoks A-230 and one of these, called A-232, was officially used by the Russian army as a basis for a chemical weapon known as Novichok-5.
While some agents of Novichok they occur in liquid form, it is believed that other types also exist in solid form. In this way the substance could be dispersed as a very fine powder.
Chemical agents like the Novichok they can also take the form of the so-called "binary weapons". The nerve agent, in this case, is split and preserved in two distinct and much less toxic chemical elements.
Only when they are mixed together do they react to produce the active toxic agent. In this way the agents are easier to transport, handle and store, becoming toxic only when mixed.
"One of the main reasons these agents are developed is because their component parts are not on the banned list," says Professor Stephens.
"It means that the chemicals that are mixed to create it are much easier to deliver without any risk to the health of the courier."
I Novichok, designed to be more powerful than other chemical weapons, begin to take effect very quickly, from 30 seconds to 2 minutes from use.
The main route of exposure is likely to be through inhalation, although they can also be absorbed through the skin.
Novichok nerve agents: what effects they have on the body
It is believed that agents of Novichok have effects similar to other nerve agents. They work by blocking receptors from nerves to muscles, causing many bodily functions to collapse.
Symptoms include white eyes, due to narrowing of the pupils, convulsions, accentuated salivation and, at worst, coma, respiratory failure and death.
In most cases they cause a slowing of the heart and restriction of the airways, leading to death by asphyxiation.
Some variants of Novichok they have been specifically designed to withstand antidotes of traditional nerve agents.