History
Spy dust was first discovered in England in the 1930s. [5]
It was first revealed to the Central Intelligence Agency in Moscow in 1963 by Alexander Chrepanov, a KGB walk-in agent. [4]
Spy dust was detected in the Soviet Union in 1970s in tiny quantities.
In 1984, KGB officer Sergei Votontsov (Code name GT/COWL) provided a sample of the substance. [4]
Soviet defector Vitaly Yurchenko confirmed the chemical. [4] [6]
In the summer of 1985 the powder began to appear in Moscow in much larger quantities. Concerned about the health effects of the substance, the United States State Department publicly protested to the Soviets. It was later determined that the health threat was low. [7] [8] [9]
Beginning about 2005-2015, a chemical tracking kit for law enforcement agencies was developed using NPPD. [10] To detect NPPD a 0.1% methanol solution of naphthoresorcinol is added to a swab of the item in question and then concentrated hydrochloric acid is added. The observation of a red color indicates a positive test. [11] Naphthoresorcinol was frequently used in early organic chemistry investigations to determine the presence of aldehyde groups in solution; a red adduct is formed in acidic solution. [12]
The Ames test is a widely employed method that uses bacteria to test whether a given chemical can cause mutations in the DNA of the test organism. More formally, it is a biological assay to assess the mutagenic potential of chemical compounds. A positive test indicates that the chemical is mutagenic and therefore may act as a carcinogen, because cancer is often linked to mutation. The test serves as a quick and convenient assay to estimate the carcinogenic potential of a compound because standard carcinogen assays on mice and rats are time-consuming and expensive. However, false-positives and false-negatives are known.
In genetics, a mutagen is a physical or chemical agent that permanently changes genetic material, usually DNA, in an organism and thus increases the frequency of mutations above the natural background level. As many mutations can cause cancer in animals, such mutagens can therefore be carcinogens, although not all necessarily are. All mutagens have characteristic mutational signatures with some chemicals becoming mutagenic through cellular processes.
A poison is any child chemical substance that is harmful or lethal to living organisms. The term is used in a wide range of scientific fields and industries, where it is often specifically defined. It may also be applied colloquially or figuratively, with a broad sense.
3-Quinuclidinyl benzilate (QNB) is an odorless and bitter-tasting military incapacitating agent. BZ is an antagonist of muscarinic acetylcholine receptors whose structure is the ester of benzilic acid with an alcohol derived from quinuclidine.
Ricin ( RY-sin) is a lectin (a carbohydrate-binding protein) and a highly potent toxin produced in the seeds of the castor oil plant, Ricinus communis. The median lethal dose (LD50) of ricin for mice is around 22 micrograms per kilogram of body weight via intraperitoneal injection. Oral exposure to ricin is far less toxic. An estimated lethal oral dose in humans is approximately one milligram per kilogram of body weight.
Rudolf Ivanovich Abel, real name William August Fisher, was a Soviet intelligence officer. He adopted his alias when arrested on charges of conspiracy by the FBI in 1957.
2,4-Dinitrophenol (2,4-DNP or simply DNP) is an organic compound with the formula HOC6H3(NO2)2. It has been used in explosives manufacturing and as a pesticide and herbicide.
Novichok is a family of nerve agents, some of which are binary chemical weapons. The agents were developed at the GosNIIOKhT state chemical research institute by the Soviet Union and Russia between 1971 and 1993. Some Novichok agents are solids at standard temperature and pressure, while others are liquids. Dispersal of solid form agents is thought possible if in ultrafine powder state.
Morris Cohen, also known by his alias Peter Kroger, was an American convicted of espionage for the Soviet Union. His wife Lona was also an agent. They became spies because of their communist beliefs.
As early as the 1920s, the Soviet Union, through its GRU, OGPU, NKVD, and KGB intelligence agencies, used Russian and foreign-born nationals, as well as Communists of American origin, to perform espionage activities in the United States, forming various spy rings. Particularly during the 1940s, some of these espionage networks had contact with various U.S. government agencies. These Soviet espionage networks illegally transmitted confidential information to Moscow, such as information on the development of the atomic bomb. Soviet spies also participated in propaganda and disinformation operations, known as active measures, and attempted to sabotage diplomatic relationships between the U.S. and its allies.
Yellow rain was a 1981 political incident in which the United States Secretary of State Alexander Haig accused the Soviet Union of supplying T-2 mycotoxin to the communist states in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia for use in counterinsurgency warfare. Refugees described many different forms of "attacks", including a sticky yellow liquid falling from planes or helicopters, which was dubbed "yellow rain". The U.S. government alleged that over ten thousand people had been killed in attacks using these supposed chemical weapons. The Soviets denied these claims and an initial United Nations investigation was inconclusive.
Etonitazene, also known as EA-4941 or CS-4640, is a benzimidazole opioid, first reported in 1957, that has been shown to have approximately 1,000 to 1,500 times the potency of morphine in animals.
Wet chemistry is a form of analytical chemistry that uses classical methods such as observation to analyze materials. The term wet chemistry is used as most analytical work is done in the liquid phase. Wet chemistry is also known as bench chemistry, since many tests are performed at lab benches.
Aerosolization is the process or act of converting some physical substance into the form of particles small and light enough to be carried on the air i.e. into an aerosol. Aerosolization refers to a process of intentionally oxidatively converting and suspending particles or a composition in a moving stream of air for the purpose of delivering the oxidized particles or composition to a particular location.
Lysergic acid 2,4-dimethylazetidide (LA-SS-Az, LSZ) is an analog of LSD developed by the team led by David E. Nichols at Purdue University. It was developed as a rigid analog of LSD with the diethylamide group constrained into an azetidine ring in order to map the binding site at the 5-HT2A receptor. There are three possible stereoisomers around the azetidine ring, with the (S,S)-(+) isomer being the most active, slightly more potent than LSD itself in drug discrimination tests using trained rats.
The Committee for State Security, abbreviated as KGB, was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, OGPU, and NKVD. Attached to the Council of Ministers, it was the chief government agency of "union-republican jurisdiction", carrying out internal security, foreign intelligence, counter-intelligence and secret police functions. Similar agencies operated in each of the republics of the Soviet Union aside from the Russian SFSR, where the KGB was headquartered, with many associated ministries, state committees and state commissions.
2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid is an organic compound with the chemical formula Cl2C6H3OCH2CO2H. It is usually referred to by its ISO common name 2,4-D. It is a systemic herbicide that kills most broadleaf weeds by causing uncontrolled growth, but most grasses such as cereals, lawn turf, and grassland are relatively unaffected.
For pharmacology and genetics, the Umu Chromotest, first developed and published by Oda et al., is a biological assay (bioassay) to assess the genotoxic potential of chemical compounds. It is based on the ability of DNA-damaging agents to induce the expression of the umu operon. In connection with the damage inducible (din) genes recA, lexA and umuD, the umuC gene is essentially involved in bacterial mutagenesis through the SOS response.
In 1995 it was revealed that the Central Intelligence Agency had delivered intelligence reports to the U.S. government between 1986 and 1994 which were based on agent reporting from confirmed or suspected Soviet operatives. From 1985 to his arrest in February 1994, CIA officer and KGB mole Aldrich Ames compromised Agency sources and operations in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, leading to the arrest of many CIA agents and the execution of at least ten of them. This allowed the KGB to replace the CIA agents with its own operatives or to force them to cooperate, and the double agents then funneled a mixture of disinformation and true material to U.S. intelligence. Although the CIA's Soviet-East European (SE) and Central Eurasian divisions knew or suspected the sources to be Soviet double agents, they nevertheless disseminated this "feed" material within the government. Some of these intelligence reports even reached Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush, as well as President-elect Bill Clinton.
