World War I is seen as the dawn of modern chemical warfare, with multiple chemical agents being used on a large scale. The variety of poisonous gases resulted in 1,240,000 injuries and 91,000 fatalities.
Chemical weapons in World War I were primarily used to subdue, injure, and kill enemy soldiers who were in the trenches, against whom the slow moving gas clouds would be most effective. The types of chemical warfare weapons dominated from debilitating chemicals, such as tear gas and the dreadful mustard gas, to deadly agents like chlorine and phosgene. Though there was a total of 20 different chemical agents. This chemical warfare was a vital part of the first global war.
Tear Gases
Ethyl bromoacetate, chloroacetone & xylyl bromide
Smell & …show more content…
Irritation of the mucus membranes causes breathing difficulties, coughing, crying, sneezing and temporary blindness.
First Used: Tear gas grenades were used by the French army against the Germans in August of 1914.
Estimated Casualties: 0, Tear gases are used to disable enemy soldiers rather than to execute them. Tear gases generally only effect humans for 30 minutes.
Chlorine
Smell & Appearance: Chlorine is a green/yellow gas and has a distinct odour of bleach.
Effects: When inhaled, Chlorine reacts with the water in the lungs and creates hydrochloric acid. It causes (in low concentrations) coughing, vomiting and eye irritation. Chlorine is lethal in high concentration and causes a rapid death.
First Used: Chlorine was first used by the German army at Ypres in 1915. The British army first used Chlorine at Loos that September.
Estimated Casualties: > 1,100, within the first year of Chlorine usage. In the beginning Chlorine was disastrous as armies were not equipped to deal with it. With time gas masks limited its success.
Phosgene & Diphosgene
Carbonyl dichloride & trichloromethyl
Chemical weapons in World War I were primarily used to subdue, injure, and kill enemy soldiers who were in the trenches, against whom the slow moving gas clouds would be most effective. The types of chemical warfare weapons dominated from debilitating chemicals, such as tear gas and the dreadful mustard gas, to deadly agents like chlorine and phosgene. Though there was a total of 20 different chemical agents. This chemical warfare was a vital part of the first global war.
Tear Gases
Ethyl bromoacetate, chloroacetone & xylyl bromide
Smell & …show more content…
Irritation of the mucus membranes causes breathing difficulties, coughing, crying, sneezing and temporary blindness.
First Used: Tear gas grenades were used by the French army against the Germans in August of 1914.
Estimated Casualties: 0, Tear gases are used to disable enemy soldiers rather than to execute them. Tear gases generally only effect humans for 30 minutes.
Chlorine
Smell & Appearance: Chlorine is a green/yellow gas and has a distinct odour of bleach.
Effects: When inhaled, Chlorine reacts with the water in the lungs and creates hydrochloric acid. It causes (in low concentrations) coughing, vomiting and eye irritation. Chlorine is lethal in high concentration and causes a rapid death.
First Used: Chlorine was first used by the German army at Ypres in 1915. The British army first used Chlorine at Loos that September.
Estimated Casualties: > 1,100, within the first year of Chlorine usage. In the beginning Chlorine was disastrous as armies were not equipped to deal with it. With time gas masks limited its success.
Phosgene & Diphosgene
Carbonyl dichloride & trichloromethyl