Editing Nerve agent (section)

===Insecticides===
Some [[insecticide]]s, including [[carbamates]] and [[organophosphates]] such as [[dichlorvos]], [[malathion]] and [[parathion]], are nerve agents. The metabolism of [[insect]]s is sufficiently different from [[mammal]]s that these compounds have little effect on [[humans]] and other [[mammals]] at proper doses, but there is considerable concern about the effects of long-term exposure to these chemicals by [[farm workers]] and [[animals]] alike. At high enough doses, [[acute (medical)|acute]] toxicity and death can occur through the same mechanism as other nerve agents. Some insecticides such as [[demeton]], [[dimefox]] and [[paraoxon]] are sufficiently toxic to humans that they have been withdrawn from agricultural use, and were at one stage investigated for potential military applications.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}}
Paraoxon was allegedly used as an [[assassination]] weapon by the [[apartheid]] South African government as part of [[Project Coast]]. Organophosphate [[pesticide poisoning]] is a major cause of disability in many developing countries and is often the preferred method of suicide.<ref name=pmid15550429>{{cite journal | vauthors = Buckley NA, Roberts D, Eddleston M | title = Overcoming apathy in research on organophosphate poisoning | journal = BMJ | volume = 329 | issue = 7476 | pages = 1231–3 | date = November 2004 | pmid = 15550429 | pmc = 529372 | doi = 10.1136/bmj.329.7476.1231 }}</ref>