Anticholinergic chemical-warfare compounds

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Anticholinergic drugs have been used as chemical-warfare (CW) agents. They are classified as incapacitating agents, ie, designed not to cause serious injury or death but rather to cause sufficient disorientation to prevent military personnel from carrying out their missions. One anticholinergic chemical-warfare agent is 3-quinuclidinyl benzilate, NATO code BZ.
BZ is a solid that can be disseminated by heat-generating artillery rounds without being inactivated. It can persist in the environment for 3 to 4 weeks. Mass casualties due to BZ exposure would likely result from inhalation of aerosolized BZ, although the compound can also be dissolved in a solvent and placed on an environmental surface from which it can be absorbed through the skin following contact.
(See also Overview of Chemical-Warfare Agents.)