For arsine gas poisoning

Arsine and arsine gas/air mixtures are flammable and explosive. The explosive limits (% by volume in air) are 4.5% and 78% for lower and upper, respectively. The gas is heavier than air and may ignite at distant ignition sources and flash back. Poisonous gases are produced during a fire. Arsine is incompatible with oxidants and oxidizing agents. 

Arsine is used as a reducing agent and to synthesize many organoarsine derivatives. It is also used as a doping agent for solid state electronic components. Earlier, it was used as a military poison gas. It does not occur freely in nature but is susceptible to form upon contact of arsenic compounds with acid in presence of a metal. Thus commercial acids stored in metal tanks and contaminated with arsenic impurities may produce arsine. 

Arsenic (atomic number 33, atomic mass 74.9216) is the 20th most abundant element in the earth s crust. It belongs to the elements of the P block of the Periodic System where it is placed below phosphorus and above antimony. The mass numbers of its isotopes range from 68 to 80 however, only the natural isotope 75 is stable. The gamma-emitting radioisotopes As (half-life 26.4 h), As (half-life 17.77 d), and As ( half-life 80.3 d) are commercially available and often used for method development and control (Krivan, 1987 Krivan and Arpadjan, 1989). Elemental arsenic exists at room temperature as metallic or gray arsenic, and yellow arsenic. As a center element of the P block it can be found both in metallic and covalent compounds. The oxidation states are -III, 0, -i-lll, and -I- V. Arsenic trihydride (arsine, AsHa) is a colourless, very poisonous, neutral gas with a characteristic garlic odour. 

Stibine is a highly toxic gas the acute and chronic effects are similar to those of arsine. Exposure to 100 ppm in air for 1 hour was lethal to mice and guinea pigs, causing delayed death within 1-2 days. The lethal concentration in air for humans is unknown. Like arsine, stibine is a hemolytic agent, causing injury to the kidney and liver. The toxicity is somewhat lower than that of arsine. In severe poisoning, death can result from renal failure and pulmonary edema. 

There are two types of warfare ordnance that we search for on a range site—chemical and high-explosive—and sometimes these are combined. Most chemical warfare material (CWM) exists in the form of a liquid that vaporizes at normal temperature. In the manufacture of poison gas and loading shells, the gas is refrigerated to a liquid, much Uke how alcohol vapor is cooled down to a liquid when making moonshine in a still. The liquid is then poured into drums, bottles, jugs, barrels, or shells. (One exception to the liquid CWM is chlorine or arsine, which, when filled into shells, exists as a compressed gas.)... 

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