Note: I am not a physician, nor an expert in chemical or biological warfare. Consult a physician or other appropriate expert before making use of any of it. I have done my best to weed out poor sources, but not being an expert, I may not have correctly picked the best information. Nothing I say here (or in any of my web pages or guides) should be taken as professional advice. I am merely providing pointers and summaries to help you find further information.
Many poisons are not absorbed through the skin. For them, clean air supply via air tank,
gas mask, or a similar system is enough, even without full-body coverage. However, many agents can be absorbed through, or simply irritate, the eyes, so a full-face mask is important.
Quite a few agents can get through skin, but only in liquid form with direct contact. For these, you can live without a full MOPP suit by avoiding contact with the liquid. However, some poisons will go right through your skin, and much more serious, expensive, and cumbersome protection is required. On the other hand, most of these require a high concentration to be effective, so your odds of avoiding the threat area altogether are higher.
One might try to make an expedient (i.e., last-ditch) MOPP suit with Tyvek (the house-wrap stuff), which is impermeable to most vapors and many chemicals. Vinyl and butyl rubber are also fairly impermeable. Even plastic bags over your clothing, taped at the ends, can reduce vapor and liquid contact. This is not good protection, but if it's that or stand there and do nothing, I for one would do what I could do....
Some of the agents I've heard of that have the despicable characteristic of being absorbed right through the skin (even in aerosol or vapor form) are listed below.
The V-series are newer and generally nastier than the G-series.
The G and V series agents are all skin-absorbable as well as inhalable, and act by inactivating acetylcholinesterase (AChE), which is crucial for brain and nerve cell function.
The initial binding of the nerve agent to AChE can be reversed with pralidoxime treatment; after some time, however, the binding becomes irreversible. Immediate atropine is also of some use, though it must commonly be given several times. Some protection can be provided by pre-treatment with Pyridostigmine bromide (30mg po q 8hours), according to information here.
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