Editing Soman (section)

==Effects on animals==
Experiments have been done in which rats were exposed to soman to test if behavioral effects could be seen at low doses without generating overt symptoms. Exposure of the rats to soman in a dose of less than 3 percent of the LD<sub>50</sub> caused alterations of the behavior. The active avoidance of the exposed rats was less than the avoidance of non-exposed rats (two-way shuttlebox experiment). Also the motor coordination (hurdle-stepping task), open field behavior and active as well as passive avoidance behavior were affected. One can conclude that rats that are exposed to soman performed with less success in tasks that require motor activity as well as the function of higher structures of the central nervous system (CNS) on the same time. In this, soman has a predominantly central effect.

The knowledge of the effects of low doses of soman and other choline esterase inhibitors on rats could possibly be used to explain the relatively high incidence of airplane accidents due to errors of agricultural pilots. If this knowledge could be applied to humans, one could explain this high incidence with depressed choline esterase activity due to exposure to pesticides. It is not known whether the extrapolation from rats to humans can be made.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=WOLTHUIS|first1=O. L.|last2=VANWERSCH|first2=R. A. P.|date=1984-04-01|title=Behavioral Changes in the Rat after Low Doses of Cholinesterase Inhibitors|journal=Toxicological Sciences|language=en|volume=4|issue=2part2|pages=195–208|doi=10.1093/toxsci/4.2part2.195|pmid=6724212|issn=1096-6080}}</ref>