the market under the trade name amiton. it was subsequently withdrawn, as it was too toxic for safe use. the toxicity did not go unnoticed, and samples of it were sent to the british armed forces research facility at porton down for evaluation. after the evaluation was complete, several members of this class of compounds became a new group of nerve agents, the v agents. the best-known of these is probably vx, assigned the uk rainbow code purple possum, with the russian v-agent (vr) coming a close second (amiton is largely forgotten as vg). the name is a contraction of the words "venomous agent x". beginning in 1959, the united states army began volunteer testing of vx in humans. dr. van m. sim underwent an intravenous infusion of vx to evaluate its effects and to establish a baseline for future experimentation. after approximately 3.5 hours following initial administration of the agent, sim suddenly became pale and delirious. the experiment was immediately terminated to preserve his life. in their conclusion, the researchers estimated that 2.12 μg/kg of vx delivered intravenously over the course of several hours would be the maximum tolerable dosage and that any more would risk death in a human subject. use as a weapon in 1988, a united nations inquiry established that cuba was responsible for deploying vx against angolan insurgents during the angolan civil war. un toxicologists obtained trace elements of vx from soil, water, and plant samples taken from areas where cuban troops had recently carried out counter-insurgency operations. patients demonstrating symptoms of exposure to nerve agents first began appearing in angolan hospitals around 1984. there was evidence of a combination of chemical agents having been used by iraq against the kurds in the halabja chemical attack in 1988 under saddam hussein, including vx. hussein later testified to unscom that iraq had researched vx, but had failed to weaponize the agent due to production failure. after u.s. and allied forces invaded iraq, no vx agent or production facilities were found. however, unscom laboratories detected traces of vx on warhead remnants. in december 1994 and january 1995, masami tsuchiya of aum shinrikyo synthesized 100 to 200 grams (3.5 to 7.1 oz) of vx which was used to attack three people. two people were injured and one 28-year-old man died, who was the first victim of vx ever documented in the world at that time. the vx victim, whom shoko asahara had suspected as a spy, was attacked at 7:00 am on 12 december 1994 on the street in osaka by tomomitsu niimi and another aum member, who sprinkled the nerve agent on his neck. he chased them for about 90 metres (100 yd) before collapsing, dying ten days later without ever coming out of a deep coma. doctors in the hospital suspected at the time he had been poisoned with an organophosphate pesticide, but the cause of death was pinned down only after cult members arrested for the tokyo subway sarin attack confessed to the killing. metabolites of vx such as ethyl methylphosphonate, methylphosphonic acid and diisopropyl-2-(methylthio)ethylamine were later found in samples of the victim's blood seven months after his murder. unlike the cases for sarin gas (the matsumoto incident and the attack on the tokyo subway), vx was not used for mass murder. on 13 february 2017, kim jong-nam, half-brother of north korean leader kim jong-un, died after an assault at kuala lumpur international airport in malaysia. according to the authorities he was murdered by poisoning with vx which was found on his face. the authorities further reported that one of the women suspected of applying the nerve agent experienced some physical symptoms of vx-poisoning. the director of a non-proliferation research program of the middlebury institute of international studies at monterey stated that vx fumes would have killed the suspected attackers even if they had been wearing gloves, suggesting that the vx was applied as two non-lethal components that would mix to form vx only on the victim's face. worldwide stockpiles some countries known to possess vx are the united states, the united kingdom, russia, north korea, and syria. a sudanese pharmaceutical facility, the al-shifa pharmaceutical factory, was bombed by the u.s. in 1998 acting on information that it produced vx and that the origin of the agent was associated with both iraq and al qaeda. the u.s. had obtained soil samples identified as containing o-ethyl hydrogen methylphosphonothioate (empta), a chemical used in the production of vx which may also have commercial applications. chemical weapons experts later suggested that the widely used fonofos organophosphate insecticide could have been mistaken for empta. cuba obtained vx during the 1980s and deployed it during its military intervention in angola. in 1969, the u.s. government cancelled its chemical weapons programs, banned the production of vx in the united states, and began the destruction of its stockpiles of agents by a variety of methods. early disposal included the u.s. army's chase (cut holes and sink 'em) program, in which old ships were filled with chemical weapons stockpiles and then scuttled. chase 8 was conducted on 15 june 1967, in which the steamship cpl. eric g. gibson was filled with 7,380 vx rockets and scuttled in 2,200 m (7,200 ft) of water off the coast of atlantic city, new jersey. incineration was used for vx stockpile destruction starting in 1990 with johnston atoll chemical agent disposal system in the north pacific with other incineration plants following at deseret chemical depot, pine bluff arsenal, umatilla chemical depot and anniston army depot with the last of the vx inventory destroyed on 24 december 2008. stockpile elimination worldwide, vx disposal has continued since 1997 under the mandate of the chemical weapons convention. when the convention entered force, the parties declared worldwide stockpiles of 19,586 tonnes (21,590 short tons) of vx. as of december 2015, 98% of the stockpiles had been destroyed. in fiscal year 2008, the u.s. department of defense released a study finding that the united states had dumped at least 112 tonnes (124 short tons) of vx into the atlantic ocean off the coasts of new york/new jersey and florida between 1969 and 1970. this material consisted of nearly 22,000 m55 rockets, 19 bulk containers holding 640 kg (1,400 lb) each, and one m23 chemical landmine. the newport chemical depot began vx stockpile elimination using chemical neutralization in 2005. vx was hydrolyzed to much less toxic byproducts by using concentrated caustic solution, and the resulting waste was then shipped off-site for further processing. technical and political issues regarding this secondary byproduct resulted in delays, but the depot completed their vx stockpile destruction in august 2008. the remaining vx stockpile in the u.s. was treated by the blue grass chemical agent-destruction pilot plant in kentucky, part of the program executive office, assembled chemical weapons alternatives program. the program was established as an alternative to the incineration process successfully used by the army chemical materials agency, which completed its stockpile destruction activities in march 2012. the blue grass pilot plant has been plagued by repeated cost over-runs and schedule slippages since its inception. in russia, the u.s. provided support for these destruction activities with the nunn-lugar global cooperation initiative. the initiative has been able to convert a former chemical weapons depot at shchuchye, kurgan oblast into a facility to destroy those chemical weapons. the new facility, which opened in may 2009, has been working on eliminating the nearly 5,400 tonnes (5,950 short tons) of nerve agents held at the former storage complex. however, this facility only held about 14% of russian chemical weapons, which were stored at seven sites. in popular culture one of the best-known references to vx in popular culture is its use in the 1996 film the rock, which centers on a threatened vx attack on san francisco from the island of alcatraz. the film uses artistic license, notably with vx being ascribed corrosive powers it does not possess, permitting an early scene in which a vx victim is shown with his face melting, rather than dying through asphyxiation. it is also shown as being bright green, a colour often used in hollywood to represent 'danger' when applied to substances, rather than amber. as well, its delivery and dispersal mechanism is based around a chain of fictional glass balls that hold the substance as a gel solution. other references to vx are found in the 2012 film it's a disaster in which it is revealed that a nearby dirty bomb attack was a vx attack, prompting the four couples to contemplate a suicide pact, as well as the 2015 film mission: impossible – rogue nation, in which series protagonist ethan hunt steals vx nerve gas from chechen separatists on their way to syria. also season 5 of the tv series 24, has a similar storyline. the fifth episode of the 2020 anime series the millionaire detective balance: unlimited features a tear gas bomb with canisters loaded with vx gas and placed inside a cabinet of a safe room within the embassy; the protagonist daisuke kambe and two other characters were trapped inside the room after relocating themselves due to security reasons, and figuring out how to escape before the bomb detonates. the album vivisectvi by the industrial band skinny puppy contains a song about chemical weapons called "vx gas attack". in the bbc show spooks, series 2 episode 5, a dirty bomb using vx is said to have gone off in a 'training exercise'. in the video game everybody's gone to the rapture, vx is alluded to as a nerve agent used by the government to contain a pattern which infects and kills humans and other animals. in the book nightshade, the twelfth book in the alex rider series, vx plays a major role, as it is used by terrorists in an attempt kill over half of the british government. the second episode of the tv series seal team (season 1) focuses on a chemical weapons lab in an abandoned hospital, producing vx gas. in the netflix show designated survivor, agent hannah wells is killed by vx in season 3, episode 7. in the cbs show macgyver, season 2 episode 9, a vx canister is the main plot point. in the 2003 video game tom clancy's rainbow six 3: raven shield, the acquisition of vx by terrorists is a major plot point in both versions of the game. in the crackle show startup, american soldiers discover a computer used by apparent terrorists in aleppo, syria. "vx components" are displayed as an item for purchase on the computer, which is logged into araknet, a dark web created by the protagonists of the series.