The poisoning of Russian spy colonel Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia is believed to
have been carried out using a nerve agent
Speaking about the poisoning drama, Mark Rowley, an Assistant Commissioner at the
Metropolitan Police said:
‘In summary, this is being treated as a major incident involving attempted murder by
administration of a nerve agent.’
Nerve agents are usually colourless liquids in their pure form, and can be dispensed as
such to be inhaled or absorbed through the skin. As liquids they can be put into food or
drink or they can be administered through an aerosol and sprayed onto the target. They
can also be turned into a gas by heating them up.
The most common nerve agents are Tabun (or GA), Sarin, Soman, Thallium, GF and VX.
Nerve agents do damage by disrupting electrical signals from the brain to muscles and the
rest of the nervous system. Specifically, they block the release of the enzyme
acetylcholinesterase.
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