• Knowledgebase: Biological & Chemical Warfare and Terrorism

    Answers to questions about Biological and Chemical terrorism and warfare.

    9. What is Sarin Gas? - Top

    The infamous Sarin gas possesses a variety of names but it was named after its four pioneers namely Schrader, Ambros, Rudriger and van der LINde.

    Being classified as a toxic organophosphorus compound, Sarin like most other nerve agents,is colorless, odorless, tasteless and diffuses very rapidly into the human skin due to its high volatility.

    Moreover, due to its high density, Sarin gas tends to drift above the ground for weeks if not months, depending on how much is used.Just for the record, Sarin is known to vapourise 36 times more rapidly than Tabun, is 26 times more deadly than cyanide, and all it takes is 0.01 mg for every 1 kg of body mass for it to be fatal for a human.


    The chemical formula for Sarin gas was forwarded to the Chemical warfare division of the German army at a Berlin-Spandau office during June 1939. Pilot plants were built at Spandau, Münster Lager, on Lüneberg heath, and pilot manufacture of Sarin was carried out in Building 144 in Dyernfurth.

    Sarin gas was on full-scale production during that period time when Adolf Hitler was in power in Nazi Germany. Up to 10 tons of the gas was produced by the end of WWII. The latest use of Sarin was in the nerve gas attack of a Tokyo subway by the Aum Shinrikyo cult in 1995.

    Sarin functions along the same lines as nerve agents.In general, it too inhibits the acetylcholine esterase enzyme in the human body's cholinergic nervous system.When such an enzyme is inhibited, the active site loses its specificity and will not be able to accommodate the complementary substrate (acetylcholine), form an ES-COMPLEX and break it down into simpler products.

    In fact, it is usually based on this principle that nerve agents for chemical warfare are manufactured in the first place.

    The initial early-warning symptoms include breathing difficulty, miosis, nausea, involuntary, drowsiness and convulsions. Such symptoms vary among people and depends on the nature of the exposure to the toxic gas.
    - Updated: October 23, 2001

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    • James L Horwitz, MD

    David C. Thomas, MD

    Barbara Lindberg, PNP