Sarin

Sarin (NATO designation GB short for G-series, B) is an extremely toxic organophosphorus compound that has been often used as a chemical weapon due to its extreme potency as a nerve agent. Sarin is a volatile, colorless and odorless liquid. Exposure can be lethal even at very low concentrations, and death can occur within one to ten minutes after direct inhalation of a lethal dose due to suffocation from respiratory paralysis, unless antidotes are quickly administered. Those who absorb a non-lethal dose and do not receive immediate medical treatment may still suffer permanent neurological damage. Sarin is widely considered a weapon of mass destruction. Production and stockpiling of sarin was outlawed as of April 1997 by the Chemical Weapons Convention of 1993, and it is classified as a Schedule 1 substance.