Mustard gas burns

Jackson and Adams studied 33 cases of extensive basal cell carcinoma, two of which involved mustard-gas burns sustained during World War I. One of those developed 35 yr after the burn, but 2 yr after irradiation with cobalt-60. In the other, basal cell carcinoma developed at the site of three separate burns, 3 yr after exposure. Some of the mustard burns did not lead to basal cell cancer. 

It has been shown in an experimental guinea pig model that CuZnSOD and MnSOD are effective in treatment of mustard gas burns. Mustard gas, used as a warfare since World War I, causes blistering lesions that are slow to heal, and secondary inflammation. There is no antidote for burns by mustard gas. SODs were foimd to effectively reduce the burn lesion area when administered in-traperitoneally/intralesionally [260]. 

While the Bistera was limping into port, the first casualties were beginning to die at the hospital in Bari. Within two weeks, seventy men were dead. Preliminary post mortems showed the dassic signs of death from mustard gas a badly burnt and blistered skin, lungs and respiratory tract stripped of their lining, a windpipe blocked with a solid column of mucous. The only difference was the severity of the symptoms. It was as if, under test conditions, the worst possible mustard gas burns had been deliberately produced. The bodies of forty representative victims — made up of men from at least twelve nationalities or races - were shipped to Porton Down and Edgewood Arsenal for microscopic examination and study . 

TNA,WOi89/3330 CDRE(I), Note No. 18/1942, The Treatment of Mustard Gas Burns with Special Reference to the Use of Amyl Sahcylate see also TNA, WO189/3238 CDRE(I), Report No. 247, The Casualty-Producing Power of Small Drops ofVesicants under Tropical Conditions , 22 January 1943 also Evans, R. 2000a, pp. 99f Evans, R. 2007. 

Blister agents, which cause burns on the skin such as sulfur mustard gas, l,l -thiobis[2-chloroethane] (HD), and lewisite, (2-chloroethenyl) arsenous dichloride (L). 

Eventually, Buscher experimented on human volunteers. Like Cullumbine, he found that, when a drop of H is placed on skin, the initial reaction appears in about 2 h. Vesication begins in about 24 h, but healing does not begin until after about 4 wk, and later for severe burns. Buscher wrote "There are also irreparable, permanent injuries.. . . Cicatricial contractures are very frequent sequelae.. . . Following severe wounds this scarring is very extensive so that there can be no question of complete recovery." In all cases of extensive burns from mustard gas, careful and extended treatment is required to prevent infection and other complications. 

Atkinson, W.S. Delayed keratitis due to mustard gas (dichloro-diethyl sulfide burns). Arch. Ophthalmol. 40 291-301, 1948. 

Mustard gas A World War 1 weapon causing skin blisters and lung burns. 

In one of the final Allied chemical assaults of the First World War the British fired mustard gas into German positions at Wervick in Belgium. One of the injured was a corporal by the name of Adolf Hitler who was evacuated back to Germany burned and temporarily blinded. As a result of that experience, Hitler developed a distaste for the use of poison gas on the battlefield. The experience of this German corporal would, in turn, shape the events of another world war 20 years later. 

The first definitive studies were performed in Britain during World War II by Charlotte Auerbach.19 After the observation that injuries from war gases resembled x-ray burns, Auerbach demonstrated unequivocally that mustard gas induced sex-linked recessive lethal mutations in Drosophila. At about the same time, I. A. Rapoport361 independently reported that several other chemicals induced gene mutations and chromosomal aberrations. Their work ushered in the era of chemical studies of mutation, and within a few years a large number of chemical mutagens had been identified. 

The subjects tested with irritants and vesicants, including those who developed skin burns from mustard gas, reported no increased prevalence of significant skin cancer or other adverse health effects. 

Mustard gas, which smells like garlic, causes blistering of the skin, severe burns to eyes and lungs, and damage to internal organs such as the bone marrow and gut. The symptoms are delayed for some hours. Mustard gas or sulphur mustard was the most effective incapacitating agent used in the First World War. 

Methyldichloroarsine was apparently used by the Germans in 1917. Methyldichloroarsine is a colorless liquid of powerful burning odor, which boils at 132°C. It is somewhat soluble in water and is soluble in organic solvents. The specific gravity is 1.838 at 20°C. The vapor pressure at 25° was found to be 10.83 mm Hg. Not only is the material toxic but it has remarkable vesicant properties, comparing favorably with mustard gas in this respect (Bennett and Ddl, 1994). 

Gage, EL (1946). Mustard gas (dichloroethyl sulfide) burns in clinical experiences. West Virginia Med J, 42, 180-185. 

At the main British factory, there were 1400 casualties among the plant workers, the accidentally burned and blistered exceeding 100 per cent of the staff every three months (presumably some members of staff were injured more than once). Conditions at the principal French plant, which supplied three quarters of the Allied-fired mustard gas, were equally unpleasant the personnel. .. is 90 per cent voiceless. About 50 per cent cough continuously. ... By long exposure to the small amounts of vapour constantly in the air of the work rooms, the initial resistance of the skin is finally broken down. The chief result is that the itch makes sleep nearly impossible and the labourers are very much run down. 

Mustard gas was developed as a chemical warfare agent more than eighty years ago. Despite intensive study, little advancement in the management of skin burns has been made. The use of mustard in military conflicts and by terrorists remains a significant threat that if realized in practice would result in a large number of casualties with severely incapacitating, partialthickness burns. Such injuries clearly present a huge potential wound-care problem. 

Mustard gas is a liquid which boils at 216°, freezes at 14°, and slowly hydrolyzes when in contact with water. It is the most toxic of the gases used in the war, and in addition is highly vesicant, as it produces painful burns at a high dilution. Its physiological action is thought to be due to the fact that it readily penetrates the cell-walls and then, as the result of hydrolysis, hydrochloric acid is formed. Its action is relatively slow and, as a consequence, the vapor can be breathed for some time without any apparent effect it is for this reason a source of great danger. 

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