Sarin

Sarin, given the NATO designation GB, is an extremely toxic organophosphorus compound that has been used as a chemical weapon because of its extreme potency as a nerve agent. It is a volatile, colorless, and odorless liquid; exposure can be lethal even at very low concentrations, with death able to occur within one to ten minutes of inhaling a lethal dose through suffocation from respiratory paralysis unless antidotes are administered quickly. It was discovered in 1938 by scientists at the German company IG Farben, and it is now widely considered a weapon of mass destruction, with its production and stockpiling outlawed since April 1997 under the Chemical Weapons Convention.