LOW LEVEL CW AGENTS

File: 071496_cia_61855_61855_01.txt
Page: 01
Total Pages: 1
Subject: LOW LEVEL CW AGENTS

Not Finally Evaluated Intelligence







TO FACILITATE ELECTRONIC ACCESS, THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN

REFORMATTED TO ELIMINATE INFORMATION THAT DOES NOT PERTAIN

TO GULF WAR ILLNESS ISSUES OR THAT IS CLASSIFIED. A COPY OF

THIS REDACTED DOCUMENT, IN ORIGINAL FORMAT, IS AVAILABLE ON

REQUEST.







OCT 94







CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY

WARNING: INFORMATION REPORT, NOT FINALLY EVALUATED INTELLIGENCE







DIST:          OCTOBER 1994







SUBJ:  1. POSSIBILITY THAT CERTAIN CONVENTIONAL SOVIET-MADE

MUNITIONS MIGHT CONTAIN LOW-LEVEL CHEMICAL WARFARE

AGENTS



2. POTENTIAL CONNECTION BETWEEN THESE SUBSTANCES AND

"GULF WAR SYNDROME"







SOVIET-ERA HIGH EXPLOSIVE (HE) ORDNANCE IS

EQUIPPED WITH A SMOKE-PRODUCING SUBSTANCE (NFI) INTENDED TO ACT AS

A "SPOTTING CHARGE" WHICH MAY ACT AS A LOW-LEVEL CHEMICAL WARFARE

AGENT.







IT IS POSSIBLE THAT THE MATERIAL MAY BE A

DDT-LIKE CHEMICAL COMPOUND WHICH CAN ACT AS A NERVE AGENT ON

HUMANS. MOREOVER, ASSUMING THAT IRAQI TROOPS USED THESE

SOVIET-MADE ROUNDS DURING THE 1991 GULF WAR, IT MAY HELP EXPLAIN

THE "GULF WAR SYNDROME" NOW BEING COMPLAINED OF BY VETERANS OF

THIS CONFLICT.



TEXT:  1.

INDICATED

THAT ALL SOVIET-ERA HIGH EXPLOSIVE (HE) MUNITIONS PRODUCED BY THE

FORMER USSR CONTAINED A SMOKE-CAUSING SUBSTANCE (NFI) INTENDED TO

HELP BATTLEFIELD OBSERVERS PINPOINT THE LOCATION WHERE EACH ROUND

HAD FALLEN AND ENABLE THEM TO EASILY ADJUST THE FIELD OF FIRE.

THIS "SPOTTING CHARGE" WAS MIXED INTO THE

TRINITROTOLUENE (TNT) WHICH COMPRISED THE EXPLOSIVE PORTION OF

THIS ORDNANCE, AND THAT THIS SUBSTANCE TYPICALLY COMPRISED

ANYWHERE FROM ONE TO 10 PERCENT OF THE EXPLOSIVE TNT MIXTURE

INSIDE OF EACH ROUND.







4.          COMMENT:  THIS SUBSTANCE PROBABLY IS A MIXTURE

OF EITHER HEXACHLORAETHANE OR HEXACHLORABENZENE (ALSO KNOWN AS

LINDANE) AND POWDERED ALUMINUM. THIS IS AN INEXPENSIVE AND

EASILY-MADE COMPOUND WHICH IS INERT ENOUGH THAT IT WOULD NOT REACT

ADVERSELY WITH THE TNT IN THESE MUNITIONS. WHEN IGNITED IN A

POWERFUL TNT EXPLOSION, THE HEXACHLORAETHANE OR LINDANE WOULD MIX

WITH THE POWDERED ALUMINUM TO FORM ALUMINUM CHLORIDE, WHICH, WHEN

EXPOSED TO HIGH HEAT, PRODUCES THICK WHITE SMOKE.







5.          COMMENT:  HEXACHLORAETHANE AND LINDANE ARE

STRUCTURALLY SIMILAR TO THE PESTICIDE DDT, AS THEY ALL CONTAIN

CHLORINATED HYDROCARBONS THAT CAN BE VERY HARMFUL TO HUMANS,

PRINCIPALLY THE NERVOUS SYSTEM, LIVER, KIDNEYS AND THE

GASTROINTESTINAL TRACT. THESE SUBSTANCES ARE ALSO SIMILAR TO

CARBON TETRACHLORIDE, WHICH IS A CARCINOGENIC AGENT. THIS IS

PARTICULARLY TRUE OF HEXACHLORAETHANE OR LINDANE WHICH IS IMPURELY

MADE, A SITUATION WHICH ONLY INCREASES THE POTENTIAL TOXICITY OF

THESE CHEMICALS. IN FACT, SUFFICIENTLY IMPURE VERSIONS OF THESE

CHEMICALS ACTUALLY COULD BE CONSIDERED LOW-LEVEL CHEMICAL WARFARE

AGENTS WHOSE EFFECTS ON HUMANS WOULD BE VERY SIMILAR TO THOSE

FOUND IN PESTICIDE POISONING.

THESE HE WEAPONS

PROBABLY DID CONTAIN IMPURE HEXACHLORAETHANE OR LINDANE, IN EFFECT

MAKING THEM LOW-TOXICITY CHEMICAL WEAPONS.



6. COMMENT:  FOR THIS REASON, IT SEEMS POSSIBLE

THAT COALITION TROOPS WERE EXPOSED TO THESE SUBSTANCES DURING THE

1991 GULF WAR, SINCE IRAQI TROOPS REPORTEDLY HAD BEEN SUPPLIED

WITH SOVIET-MADE HE ORDNANCE. THIS COULD EXPLAIN THE "GULF WAR

SYNDROME" NOW BEING COMPLAINED OF BY MANY U.S. VETERANS OF THIS

CONFLICT, AS MANY OF THEIR AILMENTS CORRESPOND WITH THE KNOWN

EFFECTS ON HUMANS OF HEXACHLOROETHANE OR LINDANE. THESE TROOPS

MIGHT HAVE BEEN EXPOSED TO THESE SUBSTANCES EITHER DURING IRAQI

ARTILLERY BARRAGES, OR WHEN DESTROYING CAPTURED CACHES OF IRAQI

ORDNANCE. IN REALITY, THE LATTER IS APT TO HAVE BEEN THE WORSE OF

THE TWO OPTIONS, SINCE IT WOULD HAVE INVOLVED PROLONGED,

CLOSE-PROXIMITY CONTACT WITH THESE CHEMICALS. MOREOVER, ONCE

THESE SUBSTANCES HAD BEEN LOOSED INTO THE AIR OR ONTO THE DESERT

SANDS OF IRAQ AND KUWAIT, THEIR CHEMICAL COMPOSITIONS PROBABLY

ALLOWED THEM TO PERSIST FOR AT LEAST TWO TO THREE WEEKS BEFORE

BEING DEGRADED BY THE DIRECT SUNLIGHT AND HIGH HEAT THERE.







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