Is It Possible to Have Delayed Effects from Low Doses of Nerve Agents?
There is no compelling evidence that documents latent effects of nerve agents appearing long after unrecognized exposure or resolution of initial signs and symptoms. The subjects of previously noted follow-up studies were not observed during the year before study, and there is no indication that the findings noted had developed just at the time of study. See Table 5.14. No human cases reported from nerve agent exposures clearly resemble NTE-delayed neurotoxicity, and the main weight of evidence is that nerve agents have little potential for producing delayed toxicity, which typically appears two to three weeks following an acute exposure. At very high doses, soman and sarin can produce the disorder in animals from acute exposures (Gordon et al., 1983), while sarin has produced delayed neurotoxicity in mice from repeated exposures to sarin that did not produce signs of inhibited AChE effects (Husain, Vijayaraghavan, et al., 1993). The whole matter of NTE-delayed neurotoxicity is difficu
