Mustard Gas, in World War I, was called the King of Battle Gases because it caused more battle causalities, as in injuries that took them out of the war and some deaths, than all of the other chemical agents used in that Great War (Everts, n.d.). This synthetic agent had an innocent beginning but rapidly became something the world rallied around to ban due to its harmful effects.
In 1886 Victor Meyer first discovered the harmful effects of (ClCH2CH2)2S or what would later become known as Mustard Gas. Although his compound was much purer he found that this new chemical was a blistering agent capable of creating large blisters on effected areas of skin (World Heritage Encyclopedia, n.d.). The work done by Mr Meyer sat on the shelf until World …show more content…
One, developed by the Germans during World War I, involves treating dihydroxyethyl sulfide with HCl gas. The other way was developed earlier and that involved treating ethylene with sulfur chloride and is known as the Levinstein process (Walton, 1996). Both make an oily, liquid like substance that has a distinctive odor described as being like mustard, horseradish, or garlic (Palermo, 2013). It has an LD50, or the concentration of the poison sufficient to kill 50% of the population exposed, of 10,000 mg/kg when in contact with the skin and 1500 mg/kg when inhaled (OPCW, 1992). However, it has more of a sublethal effect as it generally only incapacitates the victim vs outright killing them. Its aqueous (water) solubility is classified as slight but it is readily soluble in fat and common organic solvents (CDC, 2015) meaning that it is easily absorbed in contact with skin and can’t simply be washed off as a way of treating it. In fact, wet areas of skin actually absorb the toxins faster than dry …show more content…
Mustard Gas, classified as a known carcinogen by the Center for Disease Control (CDC, 2011), has recently been seen in use during the Iran and Iraq wars as a way to cause economic or social disruption on the civilian population through contamination by causing “severe skin and respiratory diseases, abnormal rates of cancer and birth defects, and a devastated environment” (Council on Foreign Relations, 2008). And the world has seen other chemicals used in warfare in the belief that using them will give the user an advantage in battle. Some of these come from general tools in use everyday, like herbicides. One of these, Agent Orange, was used extensively in Vietnam to clear vegetation and was one of the defining weapons of the Vietnam conflict. The chemical is still causing birth defects in descendants of those exposed to
In 1886 Victor Meyer first discovered the harmful effects of (ClCH2CH2)2S or what would later become known as Mustard Gas. Although his compound was much purer he found that this new chemical was a blistering agent capable of creating large blisters on effected areas of skin (World Heritage Encyclopedia, n.d.). The work done by Mr Meyer sat on the shelf until World …show more content…
One, developed by the Germans during World War I, involves treating dihydroxyethyl sulfide with HCl gas. The other way was developed earlier and that involved treating ethylene with sulfur chloride and is known as the Levinstein process (Walton, 1996). Both make an oily, liquid like substance that has a distinctive odor described as being like mustard, horseradish, or garlic (Palermo, 2013). It has an LD50, or the concentration of the poison sufficient to kill 50% of the population exposed, of 10,000 mg/kg when in contact with the skin and 1500 mg/kg when inhaled (OPCW, 1992). However, it has more of a sublethal effect as it generally only incapacitates the victim vs outright killing them. Its aqueous (water) solubility is classified as slight but it is readily soluble in fat and common organic solvents (CDC, 2015) meaning that it is easily absorbed in contact with skin and can’t simply be washed off as a way of treating it. In fact, wet areas of skin actually absorb the toxins faster than dry …show more content…
Mustard Gas, classified as a known carcinogen by the Center for Disease Control (CDC, 2011), has recently been seen in use during the Iran and Iraq wars as a way to cause economic or social disruption on the civilian population through contamination by causing “severe skin and respiratory diseases, abnormal rates of cancer and birth defects, and a devastated environment” (Council on Foreign Relations, 2008). And the world has seen other chemicals used in warfare in the belief that using them will give the user an advantage in battle. Some of these come from general tools in use everyday, like herbicides. One of these, Agent Orange, was used extensively in Vietnam to clear vegetation and was one of the defining weapons of the Vietnam conflict. The chemical is still causing birth defects in descendants of those exposed to