Mustard Gas

Chemical weapons have been used throughout history to gain tactical advantages over enemies in armed conflicts. There is evidence that civilizations up to thousands of years ago engaged in the poisoning of water supplies or the use of toxic smoke in sieges. More recently, with the rise of industrialization and formalized scientific study, chemicals were developed with the intention of using them in war. The development of chemical weapons was already of international concern in 1899, when a peace conference at The Hague resulted in a treaty prohibiting the use of “asphyxiating and deleterious gases.” The international ban on chemical weapons was disregarded in World War 1, with various chloride containing compounds being attached to grenades and artillery shells. While the immediate effects of exposure to many chemical weapons are severe, few chemical weapons have been used that cause a lasting environmental impact. Nerve agents, for instance, have the potential to leak into the environment, but low-dose exposure by civilians in areas isolated from combat is rare. One of the most widely used classes of chemical weapons is a set of herbicides nicknamed the “Rainbow Herbicides.” These herbicides have been shown to have caused widespread ecological damage, and the health effects of their use can still be measured today.

Effects of poisonous gas attacks- Chlorine was used in the gas attacks and within seconds of inhaling it, the vapors destroyed the victim’s respiratory organs. Then

Frist of all, in the Second Battle of Ypres, the Germans introduced the first use of poisonous gas. When poison gas first introduced it was a popular weapon choice and would be the weapon to change the outcome of the war. The Germans surprisingly attack the Allies, where the used lethal chloride gas against them. The gas was deadly and killed over one thousand soldiers. (1) It also allowed a significant advanced for the Germans in the war. The gas usage continued to grow throughout the war. In the end, many Allied countries started chemical weapons research. Gas warfare became common but effective actions were used to protect the troops. After World War 1, poison was use for a while but in today’s war it is no longer allowed. Instead of poisonous gas, chemical warfare is used. Chemical weapons come in a variety of forms and are used for several different techniques.

Fire has been used in battle as far back as the Greeks in 7th century A.D, but the most devastating use of fire warfare was when Napalm used by the United States in World War two against the Japanese and again in the Vietnam War. Flame throwers were used in World War One, but the problem was that it burned too quick because of the gasoline mixture that was used to produce the flame. In 1942 a team of Harvard researchers that was led by Dr. Louis Fieser discovered that a mixture of rubber with the gasoline made a flame that burned longer, but rubber was would have to be replaced by aluminum soap powder because of the scarcity of rubber (Rohn “Napalm in Vietnam War”). This mixture would later be known as napalm and it was a modernization of war with devastating results.

Chemical Warfare is defined as “Tactical warfare using incendiary mixtures, smokes, or irritant, burning or asphyxiating gases”. This is the usage of a chemical to harm the opposing side in order to get an advantage in the war at hand. Three of the main chemical weapons used during World War 1 were Lachrymator (tear), Chlorine and Phosgene, and Mustard gas. Chemical warfare was overall effective in World War 1 because it added to the weaponry needed to win the war.

Chemical weapons in the form of liquid were not the only type of chemicals used in the beginning of human history. The earliest recorded use of gas warfare in the West dates back to the 5th century BC, during the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta. Spartan forces besieging an Athenian city placed a lighted mixture of wood, pitch, and sulfur under the walls hoping that the noxious smoke would incapacitate the Athenians, so that they would not be able to resist the assault that followed. Sparta wasn't alone in its use of unconventional tactics during these wars: Solon of Athens is said to have used hellebore roots to poison the water in an aqueduct leading from the Pleistrus River around 590 BC during the siege of

It eventualy earned a new name called ‘King of Battle Gases’ because it “caused more chemical casualties than all the other agents combined, including chlorine, phosgene, and cyanogen chloride.” Mustard gas caused severe skin blistering, and eye irritation which sometime resulted in permanent eye damage. After the war, many soilders and factory workers that came in contact with mustard gas “found it difficult to work after the war because of frequent illness and difficulty breathing.”

Over the next few decades following the end of World War I, governments around the world created laws, rules, and regulations outlawing the use of chemical weapons under any circumstance. The Geneva Protocol and the Chemical Weapons Protocol were created to protect people against the horror of chemical weapons. These outlawed the use of chemical weapons

From the 100 years since chemical weapons were used for the first time, 5 chemicals really stand out from the

The severity of reaction depends on the range of toxicity and dosage released. The most well known military nerve agents are tabun, sarin, soman, GF, and VX. All of these are manmade compounds.

World War I began in Ypres, Belgium on October 4, 1914, when German forces entered the town from the southeast through Menin Gate and from the south through the Lille Gate (Legg 1). After the French and English armies entered the area on October 13, they took up defensive positions to limit the advancing German troops. By January 1915, there was a stalemate between the Allied and German armies in Ypres (Legg 2-3). The Germans were looking for a “decisive breakthrough” and decided “chemical munitions” were the answer (Warren 1) (Kennedy 1). The German decision to initiate large-scale chemical warfare during World War I was just the beginning of the use of chemical weapons in society. Although Germany initiated chemical warfare during World

CW’s were already banned before WW1 in the 1899 Hague Convention Respecting the Laws and Customs and War on Land. The Hague convention banded poison and poisoned weapons. Trench warfare quickly became the main form of warfare, this combined with machine guns being introduced, lead to a stalemate. German High Commanders decided that they needed to find something to gain more land and get out of the stalemate. The first time Germany decided to use chemical weapons they used Xylyl Bromide against Russia. The Germans filled explosive shells with the chemical at russian lines with almost zero effect due to the chemical not vaporizing in the sub-zero temperatures. The german scientist responsible for most of germany's chemical weapons advancement was Fritz Haber. Haber had the idea to use chlorine to sweep out the trenches. They planned to release the gas from canisters and use the wind to carry the gas toward enemy trenches. (move description of blister agents here) They carried out this plan in April 22, 1915 at the Ypres Salient, releasing almost 170 tons of chlorine. The chlorine had devastating effects against the French troops, thousands of soldiers died. Britain shortly created a chemical weapons division named Porton Down. British scientist quickly designed a gas helmets that had great success in protecting against the Chlorine. Phosgene then started to be used in the battlefield. Phosgene is very hard to detect as it is odourless and colourless. Phosgene had annoying effects immediately after exposure but also had more lethal effect up to 48 hours after exposure, such as difficulty breathing, coughing up white and pink fluid, low blood pressure, and heart failure. Chemical weapons advancements continued at a fast past and new gases were constantly being

Imagine strolling in an open field, out for a night walk and you hear a loud blast. At the time you don't think that much about it until hours after the fact when suddenly you can't breathe and your skin begins to blister. You have succumbed to Mustard gas. It is normally known as a "Blister Agent" living up to the gruesome attribute of the wounds that it causes, resembling burns and blisters. In any case, since mustard agents withal cause appalling harm to the eyes, respiratory framework, and internal organs, they would better be depicted as "blister and tissue-harming agent.” Ordinary mustard agents, bis-(2-chloroethyl) sulfide, respond with a sizable boundless number of natural atoms. The impact of mustard agents is postponed and the first manifestations don't happen until 2 to 24 hours after contact. Mustard agents were made without precedent since 1822 yet its inimical effects were not found until 1860. Mustard agents were initially used as a CW (chemical weapon) agents amid the last piece of the First World War and brought on lung and eye wounds to a significant number of Soldiers. A considerable amount of them endured agony 35-40 years after they had been exposed, for the most part as a consequence

The pain could persist depending on the severity of the test and the injuries from days to months. In addition, the men subject to gas chamber tests tended to have extreme fear. The long term effects include cancer, asthma, emphysema, and eye problems, the most extreme cases causing blindness in one or both eyes. Though some continued to believe that other races were less susceptible to mustard gas related issues, the results from those tests were found to be

Chemical weapons originated in early World War I. They were simple grenades or mortars filled with common chemicals. These specialized grenades were popularized by the Germans and then were seen used by even the Allied Forces. They were popularized by their area of effect and useful in the trench warfare.