Episode 21: Russian Poisons

This episode continues our foray into poisons used by agents of the Russian government which we began examining in Episode 20: Ricin. We cover the creation of The Chamber, truth serums, and the polonium used to assassinate Alexander Litvinenko in 2006.

1. Volodarsky, B., The KGB's Poison Factory. Minneapolis: Frontline Books, 2009.

2. Review of Acute Human-Toxicity Estimates for Selected Chemical-Warfare Agents. National Academy Press: Washington, D.C., 1997.  (accessed 18 May 2021).

3. Fitzgerald, G. J., Chemical warfare and medical response during World War I. Am J Public Health 2008, 98 (4), 611-625.

4. Chen, Y.;  Jia, Y.;  Song, W.; Zhang, L., Therapeutic potential of nitrogen mustard based hybrid molecules. Front Pharmacol 2018, 9 (1453), 12.

5. Hazell, S., Mustard gas - from the Great War to frontline chemotherapy. In Science Blog, Cancer Research UK: scienceblog.cancerresearchuk.org, 2014.

6. Olsen, A. J., German is Felled in Soviet by Gas. The New York Times 1964, p 2.

7. Schwarez, J. What is "Truth Serum?" Office for Science and Society [Online], 2017. https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/drugs-history-you-asked/what-truth-serum (accessed 16 Feb 2022).

8. Brown, D. Some Believe 'Truth Serums' Will Come Back Washington Post [Online], 2006. https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/19/AR2006111900891.html (accessed 16 Feb 2022).

9. Borrell, B. What is truth serum? Scientific American [Online], 2008. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-is-truth-serum/#:~:text=What%20does%20the%20term%20%22truth,people%20about%20their%20past%20experiences. (accessed 16 Feb 2022).

10. Keller, L. M., Is Truth Serum Torture? American University International Law Review 2005, 20 (3).

11. Truth Drug. https://www.chemeurope.com/en/encyclopedia/Truth_drug.html.

12. Harding, L., A Very Expensive Poison. Vintage Books: New York, 2016.

13. What is polonium - and why is it so dangerous? https://www.open.edu/openlearn/science-maths-technology/science/chemistry/what-polonium-and-why-it-so-dangerous (accessed 16 Feb 2022).

14. Hammond, C. R. Polonium. http://www.3rd1000.com/elements/Polonium.htm#Overview (accessed 16 Feb 2022).

15. Biddle, W., Polonium-210, -214, -218. In A Field Guide to Radiation, Penguin Books: New York, 2012.

16. Contamination vs. exposure. https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/radiation/emergencies/contamination.htm#:~:text=Radioactive%20contamination%20occurs%20when%20radioactive,or%20animals%20to%20become%20contaminated.

17. The Litvinenko Inquiry: Report into the death of Alexander Litvinenko; Secretary of State for the Home Department: webarchives.nationalarchives.gov.uk, 2016.

18. McKenna, T.; Shprintsen, A., The Polonium Plot. CBC: Canada, 2016.