Editing Edgewood Arsenal human experiments (section)

=== Psychochemical related experiments ===
The 1976 report on the matter identifies the sole objective of the psychochemical experiments as determining the impact on morale and efficacy such agents would have on military units.<ref name=":2" /> It appears that these experiments specifically were first called for in 1954 after the attendees of the First Psychochemical Conference informed the Department of Defense that human trials were indicated. In 1957, the first report of such trials were received, detailing a four-person experiment wherein they attempted to successfully decontaminate themselves of a mock agent while under the influence of [[LSD]].<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Sim |first=Van M. |date=June 1961 |title=Clinical Investigation of EA 1729 |url=https://dtic.minsky.ai/document/sweet-thirty-niece?query=Clinical+Investigation+of+EA+1729&documentsOffset=20&sort=relevance&nodes=org%2Ctag |website=Defense Technical Information Center}}</ref>

==== LSD experiments ====
The LSD experiments are perhaps the best documented of the psychochemical experiments of the time, garnering at least two significant independent reports.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":4" /><ref name=":5">{{Cite web |date=October 1980 |title=LSD follow-up study report |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.d0002161156&seq=1 |access-date=2024-09-18 |website=HathiTrust |publisher=U.S. Army Medical Department, U.S. Army Health Services Command |language=en}}</ref> [[LSD]] is a [[Psychedelic drug]] that acts as a dopamine and serotonin [[agonist]]<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Marona-Lewicka |first1=Danuta |last2=Thisted |first2=Ronald A. |last3=Nichols |first3=David E. |date=July 2005 |title=Distinct temporal phases in the behavioral pharmacology of LSD: dopamine D2 receptor-mediated effects in the rat and implications for psychosis |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s00213-005-2183-9 |journal=Psychopharmacology |language=en |volume=180 |issue=3 |pages=427–435 |doi=10.1007/s00213-005-2183-9 |pmid=15723230 |issn=0033-3158}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Urban |first1=Jonathan D. |last2=Clarke |first2=William P. |last3=von Zastrow |first3=Mark |last4=Nichols |first4=David E. |last5=Kobilka |first5=Brian |last6=Weinstein |first6=Harel |last7=Javitch |first7=Jonathan A. |last8=Roth |first8=Bryan L. |last9=Christopoulos |first9=Arthur |last10=Sexton |first10=Patrick M. |last11=Miller |first11=Keith J. |last12=Spedding |first12=Michael |last13=Mailman |first13=Richard B. |date=January 2007 |title=Functional Selectivity and Classical Concepts of Quantitative Pharmacology |url=http://jpet.aspetjournals.org/lookup/doi/10.1124/jpet.106.104463 |journal=Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics |language=en |volume=320 |issue=1 |pages=1–13 |doi=10.1124/jpet.106.104463 |pmid=16803859 |issn=0022-3565}}</ref> precipitating a [[hallucinogen]]ic effect, leading to [[hallucination]]s, [[euphoria]], and a wide variety of physiological symptoms.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=McGlothlin |first=William |date=1967-11-01 |title=Long Lasting Effects of LSD on Normals |url=http://archpsyc.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?doi=10.1001/archpsyc.1967.01730290009002 |journal=Archives of General Psychiatry |language=en |volume=17 |issue=5 |pages=521–532 |doi=10.1001/archpsyc.1967.01730290009002 |pmid=6054248 |issn=0003-990X}}</ref>

Available data describes a wide range of doses used in the experiments, from approximately 2μg/kg to 16μg/kg<ref name=":4" /> A typical dose for recreational use is around 100μg,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hunt |first=Katie |date=2020-02-27 |title=A woman took 550 times the usual dose of LSD, with surprisingly positive consequences |url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/27/health/lsd-overdoses-case-studies-wellness/index.html |access-date=2024-09-18 |website=CNN |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Materson |first1=Barry J. |last2=Barrett-Connor |first2=Elizabeth |date=1967-06-19 |title=LSD "Mainlining": A New Hazard to Health |url=https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/333570 |journal=JAMA |volume=200 |issue=12 |pages=1126–1127 |doi=10.1001/jama.1967.03120250160025 |pmid=6071661 |issn=0098-7484}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Holze |first1=Friederike |last2=Vizeli |first2=Patrick |last3=Ley |first3=Laura |last4=Müller |first4=Felix |last5=Dolder |first5=Patrick |last6=Stocker |first6=Melanie |last7=Duthaler |first7=Urs |last8=Varghese |first8=Nimmy |last9=Eckert |first9=Anne |last10=Borgwardt |first10=Stefan |last11=Liechti |first11=Matthias E. |date=Feb 2021 |title=Acute dose-dependent effects of lysergic acid diethylamide in a double-blind placebo-controlled study in healthy subjects |journal=Neuropsychopharmacology |language=en |volume=46 |issue=3 |pages=537–544 |doi=10.1038/s41386-020-00883-6 |pmid=33059356 |issn=1740-634X|pmc=8027607 }}</ref> or about 1.1μg/kg for the average adult male in the U.S.,<ref name=":6">{{Cite web |date=2023-10-01 |title=Measured average height, weight, and waist circumference for adults ages 20 and older |url=https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/body-measurements.htm |access-date=2024-09-18 |website=www.cdc.gov |language=en-us}}</ref> meaning the lowest dose used in experimentation was almost twice the typical recreational dose, and the highest dose exceeded fifteen times the typical recreational dose. Because of limited documentation, it is difficult to ascertain which experiments occurred at which installations, but available documentation describes several general types of experiments; which included presenting individuals with radar symbols for interpretation, having them track a simulated aircraft, having them read a map, having them interpret meteorological data, and having them attempt to defend an installation against a simulated hostile air craft attack with 40-mm antiaircraft automatic weapons.<ref name=":4" /> Results varied between experiments, but typically showed significant impairment at all doses, with impairment increasing as dose did.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":4" /><ref name=":5" />

Available data from the experiments<ref name=":5" /> concluded that long term effects from LSD exposure in not only the Edgewood Arsenal Experiments, but in the other associated experiments conducted concurrently by the Army Chemical Corps as well were minimal, with the exception of a possible small increase in congenital heart disease in offspring of the experimental subjects, and neuropsychological abnormalities in 9% of the participants which could not be explained by etiological explanations other than LSD exposure, most of which were considered mild. It is reported that all testing of LSD at Edgewood Arsenal and in general on behalf of the Army Chemical Corps was abandoned on or around April 1963.<ref name=":2" />

==== BZ experiments ====
[[3-Quinuclidinyl benzilate]], or BZ is a substance that interferes with the [[central nervous system]] and the [[peripheral nervous system]] by inhibiting [[acetylcholine]]. Existing documentation admits only that the substance was tested at Edgewood Arsenal, and all other data, including the medical records from the subjects are completely missing.<ref name=":2" /> Because of the extremely limited data, speculation on possible side effects from exposure is impossible.