i looked up the chemicals listed in the article...to put it mildly the claim that these chemicals were could have wiped out an entire city or country is ridiculous...
polyethylene glycol is used as a lubricant and for treating lumber...it also goes into skin creams and toothpastes and electronic cigarettes...and they use it to make paintballs... when ingested it is a laxative...
monoethylene glycol is used for making polyethylene glycol and polyester...it is also used in antifreeze and shoe polish and to treat lumber and remove water from natural gas...they also use it as a preservative for dissection specimens in high school biology labs... it is toxic if you drink a mouthful of it or rub it on an open wound...associated deaths are usually due to children or pets drinking antifreeze...
monoethanolamine is used in cosmetics...and for making detergents and polishes...it can also be reacted with ammonia to make a widely used fertilizer ingredient...
diethanolamine is used as an anticorrosive and to purify natural gas...it is also used for making cosmetics and shampoos... in humans it can be a skin irritant under certain conditions...it has also been shown to be mildly toxic to mice when chronically inhaled in high concentrations...a human would have to spend every day leaning over a barrel of it and inhaling the fumes for a year in order to notice any effects...
triethanolamine is used in dish and laundry detergents and shaving creams and polishes and paints and skin lotions and shampoos and eardrops and makeup remover...it is also used for making cement and for developing photos in amateur photography... in humans it occasionally causes allergic reactions or irritation when in contact with the skin...
monoethanolamine and diethanolamine and triethanolamine are all produced by the same chemical reaction in quantities that vary depending on the quantities of the input reactants...the process of making one will produce the other two as byproducts...
basically all of the chemicals listed in the article have only mild toxic effects...and only in concentrations that would be practically impossible to achieve in any kind of delivery system for a weapon...
in short all of the stuff the assad regime claims to have confiscated is not weaponizable...their claims that it could wipe out a city or even the entire country are exaggerated to laughable proportions...maybe the syrian rebels could poison assad's dog with these chemicals if they were clever enough...but that is about it...
if the syrian rebels really wanted chemical weapons they would get better results just from mixing bleach and vinegar...
but if you want to call a stockpile of laxatives and 'keep out of reach of children' stuff evidence of crimes against humanity i guess nobody is going to be able to stop you...
