Irritant mustard

Features Root whitish, cylindrical, about one foot long by three-quarters of an inch through. Taste and odour pungent, irritant, mustard-like. 

When ground and mixed with water, the seeds of black mustard ferment and yield a sharp, irritating odor and a pungent taste white mustard does not react in this manner. 

Physiological Effects. The sulfur and nitrogen mustards act first as cell irritants and finally as a cell poison on all tissue surfaces contacted. The first symptoms usually appear in 4—6 h (4). The higher the concentration, the shorter the interval of time between the exposure to the agent and the first symptoms. Local action of the mustards results in conjunctivitis (inflammation of the eyes) erythema (redness of the skin), which may be followed by blistering or ulceration and an inflammatory reaction of the nose, throat, trachea, bronchi, and lung tissue. Injuries produced by mustard heal much more slowly and are much more Fable to infection than bums of similar intensity produced by physical means or by other chemicals. 

Allyl isothiocyanate is a colourless liquid, gradully becoming yellow on keeping, and having an intensely irritating odour of mustard. Its characters are as follows —... 

Agent vapors of both series cause eye irritation. However, there is no significant difference in the concentration that will irritate the eyes and the one that will produce eye injury. Although impacts from exposure to vesicants occur almost at once, contact with vapors or the liquid agent neither irritates the skin nor produces visible dermal injuries until after a substantial latency period. In contrast, HL (C03-A010), sulfur mustard mixed with lewisite, produces immediate pain due to the arsenic mustard component. 

Clear, colorless to pale-yellow, oily liquid with an irritating, pungent odor like mustard that is detectable at 0.008 ppm. It tends to darken on storage. This material is hazardous through inhalation, skin absorption, penetration through broken skin, and ingestion, and produces local skin/eye impacts. It causes sensitization through both inhalation and skin contact. 

Exposure to high concentrations of aerosolized agent can cause severe skin irritation and even produce blistering similar to mustard agents (C03-C05). 

Symptoms Erythema, Blisters, Irritation of the Eyes, Cough, Dyspnea, Asymtomatic Latent Period (hours). Also, mild upper respiratory signs to marked airway damage, GI effects and bone marrow stem cell suppression possible. Mustard is a blister agent that affects the eyes, lungs, and skin. A person exposed to mustard will feel very little pain and... 

Avoidance of tissue irritation that may be present in IM or other routes (e.g., nitrogen mustard). 

After skin is exposed to HN-2 an epidermal rash develops within approximately an hour. If initial exposure is very low, a rash may not develop. As with HN-1, HN-2 exposure is cumulative. If a person receives multiple low-level exposures, a rash will eventually appear. Blistering will begin about 12 hours after the onset of the skin rash. As with other blister agents, great irritation results when HN-2 vapor or liquid mixes with sweat and flows to tender skin areas (e.g., armpits, buttocks, crotch). Pulmonary effects from exposure to HN-2 are not as severe as for distilled mustard. Dry-land drowning syndrome can occur as the lungs flood with mucus, dead tissue, and blood. The victim dies from a combination of asphyxiation and heart failure. 

After completion of Volume 1, three new panels were established to Identify and assess evidence on the possible long-term health effects or delayed sequelae of the three chemical classes tested. This was done over a period of a year, during which each panel met three times. Pertinent material was examined to evaluate the possibility that experimental exposure of soldiers may have resulted in untoward health effects. The three panels were separately concerned with four cholinesterase reactivator chemicals (oximes) two types of psychochemicals (phencyclidine and dlmethylheptylpyran and congeners), administered In pure form, as opposed to street drugs and mustard gas and several lacrlmatory and respiratory irritants (such as CN, CS, CR, and CA). 

Because information on possible long-term effects of the other irritant chemicals used in the Edgewood tests is sparse, this chapter focuses on the effects of mustard gas and two lacrimators, CS and CN. Information on the potential long-term adverse effects of these chemicals is derived from several sources first, observation of long-term disabilities in soldiers who were exposed to a single (in most cases) toxic concentration of irritant during World War I and in persons exposed in peacetime accidents or riot-control procedures second, studies of morbidity in workers chronically exposed to chemical irritants during their manufacture and third, studies in which experimental laboratory animals were exposed to selected chemicals by topical application, injection, or aerosol inhalation. 

Like many other Irritants, PS has not been tested thoroughly for mutagenicity. However, in one early study, Auerbach tested its capacity to Induce sex-linked recessive lethal mutations In the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. In all broods of flies derived from PS-treated males, the mutation frequencies were consistent with those of untreated laboratory stocks. A total of 4,454 chromosomes were tested, and the mutation frequency was 0.2%. In contrast, flies treated with mustard gas had a frequency of 5.2%. 

In general, the Committee found insufficient evidence to evaluate these chemicals, except mustard gas. Mustard gas 1b an experimental mutagen and human carcinogen at high doses. Data on the other irritants are insufficient to evaluate their mutagenicity, carcinogenicity, or other long-term effects. Tests of all these chemicals involved few exposures and low doses. 

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