Itching chemical or biological agents used to sabotage ennemy uniforms

[badboyscrew]

During WWW2, the UK secret services planed various sabotage/harrassement actions to be performed by local agents living in the german occupied Europe.
Most of them didn't need sophisticated material and resulted however in nice trouble among german troups.
In Norway and Denmark, local agents were supplied with some sort of "military strength itching powder" and were charged to use it to contaminate german naval and submarine crews laundry.
Uniforms, underwears and even condoms :D were coated with the nasty powder with the complicity of workers from factories supplying the German army.... resulting in an "epidemy" of nasty itching rashs driving the soldiers crazy for weeks and perturbing the german naval operations.

The exact component used as "itching powder" is not mentioned in the reports and I was wondering what kind of chemical could be used in this purpose (assuming it was a chemical agent) ?
There are also some biological agents that can be involved, such as tiny hairs from irritating plants (don't remember the name of the tropical plant with hairy pods that was sold as prank "itching powder" for years, before being banned because victims complained about nasty irritation LOL! ).

I find the idea nice, as it could be used either to sabotage target clothes, bedding, ... or spread by some explosive device in a crowdy place ;)
Any suggestions are welcome!

[meselfs]

Urushiol is the best, IMO. A few people, especially those who work in forests alot, are immunized against it, since it is the active ingredient in poison oak/ivy/sumac.

I don't know the exact extraction procedure, but I guess it isn't very difficult.

[Bugger]

Urushiol is the best, IMO. A few people, especially those who work in forests alot, are immunized against it, since it is the active ingredient in poison oak/ivy/sumac.
Are urushiols also found in nettles? I have an idea they might be. Urushiols are alkyl or alkenyl-2,3-dihydroxybenzenes, in which (at the 1-position) is a long chain of 15 carbons which may have one or two non-conjugated double bonds near the middle of the chain.

Bugger.

[badboyscrew]

No doubt that urushiol is a very potent agent to create skin irritation, but it suppose that target people are sensibilized by a previous first contact with poison ivy: it will be inoperative on people living in geographic areas where poison ivy doesn't grow (Europe,...).
Furthermore, it works with delayed action, and is not convenient when immediate effect on the target is required.

I think I have identified the plant with itching hairs that has been used as very potent itching powder:
"Mucuna pruriens is variously called cowitch, cowhage and pica-pica. It grows wild in the tropics, including India, and tropical islands, including the Bahamas ; its range may extend to southern Florida.
Each 10- to 13-cm fruiting pod bears approximately 5,000 barbed, easily detachable spicules measuring 2 mm by 20 um that cause dermatitis through an inflammatory response, presumably an immediate hypersensitivity reaction. Hairs from dried pods remain potent. The spicules have been sold commercially as itching powder.

Studies showed that introduction of one spicule through the epidermis with friction or pressure led to a burning itch lasting up to 30 minutes. Spicules could be removed from the skin by washing or by applying an adhesive tape. Mucunain, a protein with endopeptidase and dipeptidase activity, was identified as the active pruritic agent. The protein was extractable only from spicules using aqueous solutions and could be inactivated by autoclaving, changing the pH, or using a similar denaturing process that did not change the spicule structure. Further investigations confirmed the biochemical nature of the pruritic agent, identified as a thermolabile protein of molecular weight 40,000."

Sounds like very interesting stuff with various potential uses !!! :D
What about spreading the powder through air vents? or loading it in some explosive device? ;)

[meselfs]

Well, I once had an experience with poison ivy. Indeed, it works slowly; but boy, it is effective. I just barely graced some plants with my forearms, yet I had alot of these tiny little red bumps in all sorts of places, as a result of me (for exapmple) itching myself. They lasted about a week.

I've been hit by nettels, they give immediate pain which diminishes to an itch then disappears fairly quickly, that doesn't sound like urushiol at all.
Ofcourse it could be very effective anyway... anyone know what the active ingrediant is called?

So europe doesn't have poison ivy? Wow... your climate is'n much different from Oregon here. Are you sure there isn't any? You may have to look around. I live on 42 acres but there's not a single plant here, although I heard the neighbor has some here & there.

IIRC urushiol boils at around 200 and is soluble in acetone, so conceptually you can make it by chopping up some ivy (somehow :-S), dissolving in acetone, drying it, and then heating the remainder to around 150 until anything more volatile then the urushiol is gone. I wouldn't feel comfortable distilling it, it may decompose (although I read in some encyclopedia that smoke from burning dried ivy is dangerous).



Your protein sounds interesting, but I think it'd be hard to obtain , and the spicule might expire.
Also, proteins don't take heat very well, so an explosive device probably would disperse it and destroy it at the same time.



According to Merck, chloro(or bromo)acetone is a powerful lacrimator and irritates the skin as well. I once made some by direct halogenation of acetone with bromine and chlorine, I found that it didn't hurt my skin at all (but I was crying, and so was my brother once he used the sink I dumped it in :D). Anyone know why? Maybe it needs a way into the skin?

Speaking of which, if you want an itchy effect that's fast, you should consider a lacrimator.

[akinrog]

Are urushiols also found in nettles?

AFAIK the active irritant in nettles is formic acid. In rural areas of my country, the nettles are cooked like spinach and once I tasted it and it's really delicious. When cooked the irritant effect of the plant disappears.

Here is a few links : http://www.wholehealthmd.com/refshelf/substances_view/1,1525,10048,00.html
http://www.naturepark.com/snettle.htm

Off-topic. I support our fellow members who express their uneasiness about the quality of the some recent posts.

[FUTI]

I think that misterious itching powder is NaSiO3 or grinded glass wool (god knows is this a proper english term). Well that is slow starting and long acting chemical. Victim can maybe feel at first little warm feeling that would soon became very painfull, washing of basic solution and powder is not that easy so the agony continue for some time. If victim inhale that powder it is hell on earth... it will cough his lungs out. If you prefer your own made "spice" I give my vote for chloro- or iodo-acetone... that can be made from easy available chemicals and is nasty enough to make to effect and pays-off the effort. Protein can be used as air vent aerosol diversion bomb but is in mine opinion a lot of trouble for small scale effect. That kind of diversion can also be made with urushiol busted air-refreshener spray.;)

[badboyscrew]

Your fiberglass powder idea sounds great!
I suppose that the tiny shards of glasswool will find their way easily through target skin (motion and friction will enhance skin penetration, by rubbing naked skin with contaminated clothes). Once embeded into the skin, shards will create an itching sensation, leading to scratching reaction: at this point, a "vicious spiral" happens since scratching will contribute to spread the powder and allow more and more shards to penetrate the skin! :D
This "mecanical" action suppose some time to take effets but will drive the target crazy for days, because embeded shards will remain in the skin even after several showers.

BTW, it could be very interesting to enhance this mecanical itching powder by mixing with a chemical: cutaneous penetration of the chemical agent will be more easy through the microscopic wounds caused by fiberglass shards
;)
If we except urushiol (because of the need of primary exposure to poison ivy to take effect), which chemical agent could be added to the fiberglass powder? Lachrymatory types sounds nice, but may be difficult to use because lachrymatory side effects will alert the target before puting on the contaminated clothes?

[nbk2000]

I've read the dander from cattails was useful. I've tried it myself many years ago and it was a bit itchy.

[Ropik]

The fiberglass sounds good, but I read somewhere that some people are much less affected by it. Percentage of this people goes as high as 25% in the world. Oh yes, 75% soldiers with helluva itching is enough indeed... And with persistent contact, the percentage will probably goes down. But worth considering
Glass is too heavy, unless you grind it really well, it will fall out of clothing. Something like small glass splinters would work better.
Ideal itching agent should be similar density like cloth, otherwise it will fall out quickly.

[FUTI]

If monochloro-acetone is not good because it is easy detectable, then we could try 1,3-dichloro-acetone...harder to spot but makes nasty chemical burns...or epychlorohydrine. In each case you start from glycerol...use HCl (gas) and very simple chemicals to make any of those.

[badboyscrew]

Ideal itching agent should be similar density like cloth, otherwise it will fall out quickly.
Both fiberglass powder and vegetal irritant hairs will remain easily embeded in the clothes and be unnoticeable for the targets.
Combining mineral shards and vegetal hairs would result in synergic action:
first, the potent chemical itching agent contained in the vegetals hairs will be introduced into target skin (micro-syringe like action) immediately initiating the inflammatory reaction (releasing histamine and serotonine) resulting in furious itch that will make target life very nasty for a few hours... just time for the mechanical effect of fiberglass shards to take effect! :D
scratching efforts due to early itching will allow more and more shards of fiberglass to embed themselves in the skin: once in place, shards will prevent inflammatory reaction to decrease, resulting in prolonged itching torture :D :D

BTW, I have found confirmation in several reports that dried hairs from the cowhage pods (mucuna pruriens) remain potent for years after harvesting:
mucunaine (the protein involved in itching reaction) seems to be stocked in the internal cavity inside the hairs and is protected from thermic degradation, or dessication. This is clearely a great advantage compared to nettles.


Here is what the plant look like:
http://www.barbadine.com/images/mucunapruriensFRGP.jpg


BTW, an effective method to contaminate target clothes with fiberglass (seems not convenient for vegetal hairs) would be to simply mix a nice amount of fiberglass powder to the target laundry detergent: fiberglass shards would be trapped into clothes, resulting in permanent contamination (each further washing suppling a new load of itching agent!) ;)

[FUTI]

Well detergent I had in mind when I post this... it also contains very often Na2SiO3 or at least Na2CO3. With little sweat all of the affected will learn the meaning of hydrolysis:D. I feel little warm itching under my arm...scratch, scratch...ARGHH now it is even worse...AAAAAAAA!

[badboyscrew]

Well detergent I had in mind when I post this... it also contains very often Na2SiO3 or at least Na2CO3. With little sweat all of the affected will learn the meaning of hydrolysis:D. I feel little warm itching under my arm...scratch, scratch...ARGHH now it is even worse...AAAAAAAA!

Sounds very nice !!!!
Not only for armpits but specially for wet crotch area !! :D :D :D
assuming that some other body fluids could initiate hydrolysis process as well, most sensitive parts of warriors anatomy should be ... humm... severely hit by the itch attack ;) ;)

[NightStalker]

Wouldn't be possible to extract the inflammatory protein from the cowhage and use that as a contaminant for weapons?

If you had pure protein in a projectile, and it was shot into someone, than wouldn't it cause a systemic inflammatory response in the internal organs, causing death?

[FUTI]

That is veeery baaaaaaaaad idea. In the positive meaning of the word ;)

If you find basic solution stable inflamatory protein or substance you can make it gradually becoming stronger. First chemical activation, second mechanical abrasion and penetration, then biochemical enhanced inflamation.

I don't know is the urushiol good for this job. Maybe if it is diluted onto silica or fiberglass to make it more stable. Urushiol is not stabile as it is easier to oxidise in basic solution but since quinones produced are also irritant and inflamatory compounds maybe it doesn't matter. When it comes to proteins...only test will tell the truth.

Since just behind the armpits are lymph nodes that are part of inflamatory response, I can put few $ that protein idea will be hell. I can't estimate mass hysteria from "plague resurection" after first victims with swollen armpits start coming to the hospital.

[Shotgun Pete]

I was doing some research on the immunity numbers on urushiol-containing plants via google, it seems the consensus is true immunity doesn't really exist. You can not get it sometimes and some other times you can, which might be the standpoint of journals but I can attest to many summers of picking blackberries and never once getting affected by the stuff despite practically wading through it. However I never saw any data on immunizations and found something rather interesting instead which gave me a few ideas; it seems these plants are the bane of firefighters around California where there are the raging wildfires almost yearly. A good deal of firefighters inhale the smoke during forest fires, and the condition can be pretty bad for the unlucky firefighters, as it causes serious inflamation of respiratory mucous membranes. They pretty much itch from the inside of their respiratory system, laying them out. While not really acheiving the outward itching on their cloths and body, the primary effect of troop discomfort and disability is acheived. The effect of inhaled poison ivy/oak/sumac combined with rubbing on cloths sounds like a very effective (and cheap unless you use a fancy delivery method, say dispersal through a vent system) deterrant system.

The plants grow everywhere in America under 4,000 feet elevation, except for the deserts, making it widely available for your guerilla needs regardless where you are (if your lucky or unlucky enough to be living in the US of A).

A few plants thrown in with a military or police laundry load should debilitate a platoon/precint for 5 days or so, being an excelent prelude to other activities should you have such access. Or a quick run by the police station swabbing the handles of the police cars, since it is oh-so-easily transferable by touch and cloths. :D

[festergrump]

Speaking of access, if you've ever been guilty of a minor infraction of the law in most of the states that I've been to in the USA, they love to give you hours upon hours of "Community Service" to complete along with your steep monetary fine. This usually consists of washing police squad cars and cleaning station bathrooms (usually after your stretch of highway is manually devoid of trash). There you can spend all the time you need tainting the cars and offices of the police.

What a great way to wreak havok among the troopers. A bit of poison ivy spray on the drivers seat would be sure to work into their uniform and reach sensitive areas. A spray or three on the steering wheel as well. Toilet seats... I wish I'd read this before I had to clean the personal judges chamber bathroom of a certain lady judge who fucked me royally over a minor traffic offense. (I wrapped her toilet bowl with a tight layer of seran-wrap and put the seat back down, instead. Wish I could have been a fly on the wall for her next tinkle, but the ivy or ground fiberglass might have been a bit better).

[xyz]

Personally I'd have coated the seat with some REALLY FINE NaOH powder...

Nice white colour that won't be noticed.

Someone did that to a block of public toilets somewhere in New Zealand a few years back. A bunch of people got some really nasty burns. Mostly because if their ass starts to have a burning sensation, people aren't exactly going to drop their pants in public to check it out, and by the time they do it will be far too late, and their immediate reaction will be to put water on it... (more fun, unless very large quantities are used).

I can just imagine the bitch trying to sit through a court session with NaOH powder all over her ass...

[badboyscrew]

Speaking of access, if you've ever been guilty of a minor infraction of the law in most of the states that I've been to in the USA, they love to give you hours upon hours of "Community Service" to complete along with your steep monetary fine. This usually consists of washing police squad cars and cleaning station bathrooms (usually after your stretch of highway is manually devoid of trash). There you can spend all the time you need tainting the cars and offices of the police.
That remembers me something!
During my military service, I got caught with a couple of mates for some funny water and trash-cans battles in the dorms and we had to clean the officers bathrooms and cars next week-end... :mad:
We had neither poison ivy nor fiberglass, but one of us had a pepper spray can (the gel base type, for indoor use, that doesn't evaporate in the air but sticks on the target) : we used it generously in the officers bathroom to coat toilet seats, toilet door handles and urinals flushs... :D
we also sprayed a nice shitload of the stuff on the car seats and in the airvents uptake close to the windshield ;)
No needs to say that next monday was a very HOT day for some people :D :D