Lewisite skin penetration

Immediate pain occurs upon inhalation, dermal, or ocular contact with lewisite. Skin penetration occurs within 3-5 min, especially following liquid exposures (Sidell et al, 1997). The skin becomes red, then gray, within 15-30 min after exposure (EPA, 1985a Goldman and Dacre, 1989 Sidell et al, 1997 Pohanish, 2002). Severe blisters develop within 12 h. The blisters rupture... 

Exposure to lewisite is very painful. Both the vapor and liquid lewisite can penetrate skin. Reddening of the skin is followed by tissue destruction (EPA, 1985a Goldman and Dacre, 1989 Pohanish, 2002 Sidell et al, 1997). Amounts as small as 0.5 ml may cause severe systemic effects and 2 ml may be lethal. Severe edema develops secondary to increased capillary permeability. Dermal bums are deeper than those seen with mustard gas and are quicker to appear (Goldman and Dacre, 1989 Sidell et al, 1997). 

Medical Management It is essential to remove the mustard and/or Lewisite agents as quickly as possible. Vesicants rapidly penetrate the skin causing both localized cellular... 

Little information is available regarding the toxieokineties of lewisite. Lewisite is readily absorbed by mueous membranes and, beeause of its lipophilicity, dermal absorption is signitieant (HSDB, 2004). Dermal absorption is reportedly more rapid than for sulfur mustard (Hurst and Smith, 2008). Axehod and Hamilton (1947) reported that radiolabeled ( " As) lewisite applied to a 0.4S em area of human skin was primarily fixed on the epidermis and that very little was found in the dermis most was detected in hair and hair follicles. In experiments with guinea pigs, histological examination revealed that lewisite applied to skin entered epidermis within 2 min and penetrated into the dermis within 10 min (Ferguson and Silver, 1947). Only trace amounts were detectable in the dermis at 24 h post-application. 

A. General. Vesicants can penetrate the skin by contact with either liquid or vapor. The latent period is characteristic of the agent. For mustards it is usually several hours, for Lewisite it is short, and for oximes it is negligible. The latent period is also affected by the dose, temperature,... 

A. General. Due to its physical and chemical properties, lewisite can easily penetrate the skin, where it exerts its vesicant action. A distinctive stinging pain is felt in 10 to 20 seconds after contact with the skin. It can spread through the whole body and act as an arsenical poison. 

Lewisite is a war gas developed in 1917 by W. Lee Lewis, an American scientist. The gas rapidly penetrates clothing and skin and is poisonous because it contains arsenic, which combines with thiol groups on enzymes, thereby inactivating the enzymes. During World War II, the... 

Mustards may penetrate exposed skin in 1 or 2 min, but symptoms may not be noticeable for 2 hr and up to 48 hr later. Unlike mustards, lewisite causes immediate... 

Carlisle, Pennsylvania Most Powerful War Gas Made, DCM 5 (December 11, 1918) 19. After the war, Amos Fries noted that three full drops [of Lewisite] absorbed into the skin. . . will probably cause death, but it was not difficult to rub the gas off before it could penetrate. And, it is not much more poisonous than phosgene. Fries testimony in Senate Committee on Finance, Hearings, Tariff Act of 1921 (1922), 388. 

Lewisite produces immediate clinical effects (unlike mustard gas, which is delayed). Stinging pain is often felt within 10-20 seconds. Skin damage can occur within 5 minutes and blister formation is complete within 12-18 hours. Warm, moist areas of the body are the most vulnerable and it easily penetrates ordinary clothing as well as wood, leather and rubber. Absorption is increased by heat and moisture. Exposure to the liquid agent is more severe than to its vapour. 

Lewisite, when used as a chemical warfare agent, affects the eyes, respiratory tract and skin, these being the parts most exposed to the gas. Furthermore, Lewisite has lipophilic properties and penetrates easily through the skin [120]. 

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