Originally Posted by
Courtney Mil
Captbod,
Yes, Sarin is non-persistent, regardless of what the journos say. It's very volatile and in the Syrian heat would not remain in liquid form for more than about half an hour - even in the cold it will only last some 7-10 hours.
NutLoose,
I'm Courtney, not Coff, Mate.
I wasn't trying to be patronizing, sorry. As to your point, even if the precursors were stored on the same site, they still need to be mixed effectively. Blowing up storage tanks wouldn't do that very well.
In any event, extreme heat helps break down most nerve agents.
AirPig,
Re the "bath tub" Sarin. The Russians decided that the Sarin used in the Aleppo CW attack back in March was not factory made as it did not appear to contain stabilizers. They used that 'fact' to claim that it had been made by the rebels. But those stabilizers are only there to extend the shelf life, not to make it more persistent. Again, given the temperatures, victims' contaminated clothing only poses a threat for around 30 minutes with Sarin. We also saw a lot of water being sprayed around in the videos of the latest attack. Water breaks Sarin down very effectively. So I don't think there was too much risk to unprotected rescuers and doctors, but I don't think that can be used to assess where it came from.
Courtney, I think the highlighted text is what has us all a wee bit "tense" about the septics governments plans, you know......