What is VX, the World's Deadliest Nerve Agent Used by North Korea?

 

By Pierre Bertrand

Malaysian police revealed they’ve discovered traces of a highly toxic nerve agent on the face of Kim Jong-Nam, the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, who was murdered in Kuala Lumpur earlier in February.

The toxic nerve agent, according to the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), “is the deadliest nerve agent ever created.”

Clear, odourless, tasteless and with the consistency of motor oil, the toxic nerve agent is commonly known under its US military code name “VX”. It is so fast acting, says the CFR, that a known antidote to the toxin would have to be administered “almost immediately to have a chance at survival.”

VX, also known as O-ethyl S-diisopropylaminomethyl methylphosphonothiolate, is 100 times more toxic than the nerve gas Sarin. Sarin, depending on the dosage, can kill within minutes causing convulsions, paralysis and extreme pain. 

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Source: euronews.