German National Information Center for Chemical Weapons

The year 1915 marks the first use of chemical weapons in history, when chlorine gas was deployed on the Western Front in the Second Battle of Ypres on April 22nd. In the years following, numerous countries, especially in Europe, developed a manifold of chemical weapons, filled them into ammunitions and stored them in their arsenals. Such old chemical weapons, loaded with various chemicals, are often equipped with detonators and still active, even after being abandoned or buried underneath the ground for decades. Naturally, they post a threat to humans and the environment. These ammunitions are difficult to identify, often strongly corroded, unstable and partially of dud type. Today we are faced with the situation that buried chemical ammunition is still present, unfortunately with a little number of experts available and with very limited knowledge about the chemicals used. In light of this, the German National Information Center for Chemical Weapons (NICK e.V.) and its members will provide authorities and entities with information regarding chemical warfare agents (CWAs) and chemical weapons (CWMs), such as their manufacture, buildup, mechanism, disarmament, destruction and dumping sites in the sea.