Protective Ointments

The CWS awarded a development contract on protective ointment, the antigas decontaminant for use on the soldier s body and personal weapons, 

55 (1) Chemical Warfare Board Project No. 298, Test of Mobile Water Suspension Impregnating Plant, 31 Aug 43. (2) CWTC Item 863, Military Requirements and Military Characteristics for a Mobile Impregnating Unit, 3 Dec 43. (3) CWTC Item 993, Military Requirement and Military Characteristics for a Kit for Conversion of Mobile Laundry Units for Impregnation, 5 May 44. See also Item 1090, 7 Jul 44, same title. 

5 See Brophy and Fisher, Organizing for War, ch. IV, and Pritchard, Kleber, and Birdsell, Chemicals in Combat. 

5 Unless otherwise indicated, this section is based on the following (1) Wallace and Tiernan 

Another serious complication encountered in early manufacture was that the lead tubes into which the ointment was filled contaminated the product. Tubes made from aluminum or even from tin would have been preferable, but those metals were in short supply. The Dewey and Almy Chemical Co., Cambridge, Mass., developed a satisfactory lining for the tube, consisting of a combination of wax and synthetic rubber. This tube was put into production by several manufacturers, including the Peerless 

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Gasschutz, m. protection against gas, gas defense. -dienst, m. gas defense service, -gerat, n. gas-defense equipment, -lager, n. gas defense depot, -salbe, /. (MU.) protective ointment. 

In addition to suspensions, pharmaceutical products may be emulsions or foams. In any case the rheological properties have to be tailored to suit the nature of the application [215], Therapeutic ointments are usually not very viscous and encounter only moderate shear rates upon application, about 125 s-1 when gently smeared on with fingers, and about 210 s-1 when smeared on with a spatula [215], An opthalmic ointment is usually very soft, with a viscosity of about 20-30 mPas, whereas a medicated ointment needs to be soft enough to apply easily but stiff enough to remain on the area to which it was applied, with a viscosity of about 30-40 mPas [215], A protective ointment like zinc oxide paste needs to be hard and stiff enough to stay in place where applied, even when moist. 

Eczema may be so mild that no treatment is required beyond avoiding known irritants and applying a soothing and protective ointment which keeps the skin moist and so reduces inflammation. There are many such over-the-counter remedies based on liquid paraffin and soft white paraffin, both of which are hydrocarbons obtained from refined petroleum and which contain nothing that can irritate the skin. Liquid paraffin is also called mineral oil and is available under a variety of trade names, such as Nujol, while soft white paraffin is better known as Vaseline. Emulsified mixtures of liquid paraffin and soft white paraffin make excellent skin creams. 

Due to their ability to form complexes with heavy metal ions, aliphatic polyesters are added to skin-protective ointments. ... 

Protective ointments, e.g. zinc oxide paste Hard and stiff remain in place ulcerated areas when applied to moist... 

During WWII, a concentrated effort to develop ointments for protection against sulfur mustard took place at the Chemical Warfare Service, Edgewood Arsenal, Mainland. The Army produced the M-5 protective ointment, which was manufactured in 1943 and 1944. However, because of limited effectiveness, odor, and other cosmetic characteristics, the M-5 ointment was no longer issued to soldiers by the mid-1950s. 

Carboxymethyl)starch causes diarrhea in experimental rats, and this effect increases with the DS of the product. 0-(Carboxymethyl)amylose is more laxative than 0-(carboxymethyl)amylopectin.1127 Despite this result, (car-boxymethyl)starch has been proposed as a texture and taste improver for ice cream.1128 1129 Aluminum salts of this material have been patented as antiulcer preparations.679 A syrup conatining 0-(carboxymethyl)starch the treatment of respiratory ailments was patented.797 Glyceryl starch was reported as a component of protective ointments.1130... 

An improved version of the World War I orchard sprayer decontamination apparatus was fielded to provide ground and equipment decontamination. It could also be used for plain water showers for soldiers (Figure 2-39). For treatment of gas casualties, the CWS standardized the M5 Protective Ointment Kit. This kit came in a small, waterproof container and held four tubes of M5 Protective Ointment wrapped in cheesecloth and a tube of BAL (British anti-Lewisite) Eye Ointment. The protective ointment was used to liberate chlorine to neutralize vesicant agents on the skin. The BAL ointment neutralized Lewisite in and around the eye by changing it to a nontoxic compound. Over 25 million of the kits were procured for the army.26 35 105 Biological Warfare Program... 

Zvirblis P, Kondritzer AA. Protective ointment M5, water and bleaches as skin decontaminants for GB, I. In Studies on Skin Decontamination. Army Chemical Center, Md Medical Laboratories 1953. Report 193. 

Other items of protection against gas warfare were the decontaminants and the equipment to disperse them. The decontaminants included personal protective ointment, noncorrosive decontaminant for vehicles and equipment, and bleach, the area decontaminant. Since the Mi protective ointment was in short supply and regarded by SWPA officers as of doubtful effectiveness, the CWS SWPA improvised an individual protective kit consisting of swabs, kerosene (a solvent for vesicant gases), an alkaline soft soap produced locally, and a half measure of Mr ointment. General Porter advised Copthorne that the Mi ointment had been reappraised and redesignated M4 and that new techniques for its use had been evolved. OCCWS at the time considered the M4 ointment effective without a solvent or soap to accompany it. The solvent and soap in the SWPA kit served as a substitute for ointment until a sufficient quantity of M4 ointment was received late in... 

McMillin, Chemical Officer, Hawaiian Chemical Depot, was prepared to issue 60,000 service gas masks when, less than an hour after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor began. Colonel Unmacht, department chemical officer, ordered distribution. The departmental CWS also stocked about 90 tons of bleach, no tons of chemicals for impregnating permeable protective clothing, and nearly 2j,ooo gallons of noncorrosive decontaminating agent. Several thousand hand decontaminating apparatus and a completely inadequate supply of personal protective ointment completed the defensive stock. ... 

These items included protective clothing, protective ointment, and gas detection equipment. (i) Memo, C CWS for OPD, 24 Dec 42, sub Cml Warfare Preparedness of U.S. Army. OPD 385 CWP, sec IIA. (2) In this instance, the United States feared that Germany might... 

During the period from 1920 to 1940 the CWS initiated approximately 700 projects for the Army, the Navy, and for civilian organizations. The military subjects encompassed gas masks, protective clothing, protective ointments, incendiary materials, mortars, airplane spray tanks, chemical cylinders, chemical artillery shells, colored smoke, chemical grenades, toxicological studies, meteorology, analytical methods, pilot plants, full-scale plants, filling plants, and medical studies. 

CWTC Item 166, Subcommittee Report on Standardization of Protective Ointment, 16... 

The confusing story of Ml protective ointment is told in CWTC Item 166 CWTC Item 280, Request for Standardization of Ointment, Protective, 19 Nov 40 CWTC Item 330, Request for Standardization of Ointment, Protective, M2, 1 Apr 41 CWTC Item 506, Redesignation of Ointment Ml to M4, 2 Jun 42. 

Shortly after the appearance of the gas casualty chest in 1S>42, a small gas casualty first-aid kit, evolved from the earlier plant kit, was standardized and issued on the basis of one to each twenty-five individuals and as an accessory of vehicular equipment. Its contents, based on developments reported in TM 8-285, were dichloramine-T in triacetin, hydrogen peroxide solution, copper sulfate solution. Ml eye solution, amyl nitrite, pontacaine ointment, and M4 protective ointment. Three years later, in 1945, this same first-aid kit contained BAL ointment, chloroform, amyl nitrite, copper sulfate, eye and nose drops, calamine lotion, and the M5 protective ointment kit, the latter consisting of four tubes of M5 protective ointment and one tube of BAL eye ointment. Over 250,000 of these kits were procured for shipment overseas. 

The antimustard preparation, M5 protective ointment, while not the final answer to mustard decontamination and prevention of mustard effects on the skin, was the most satisfactory preparation devised during the war for this purpose. Researchers found no clear-cut superiority for any therapeutic agent in the treatment of mustard burns of the skin, but they concluded that the use on third degree burns of sulfadiazine ointment and petrolatum containing silver nitrate was the best treatment for the burnlike injury. As for contamination of the eyes by liquid mustard gas, nothing proved much more effective in preventing the rapid and destruc-... 

The shortage of raw materials which arose in the emergency period became even more acute once war was declared. Until the end of 1942 the chief need for such materials was for construction facilities. From then until the close of hostilities the principal demand for raw materials was for production of munitions, which started to mount sharply once war was declared. Typical shortages in the CWS were steel for decontaminating apparatus, nickel-chrome steel for elevating screws for 4.2-inch mortars, Monel metal and stainless steel for valves for one-ton containers, and raw chemicals for protective ointment and smoke mixtures. ... 

In addition to large quantities of service equipment, toxic agents, and raw chemicals the CWS in World War II procured a variety of defensive and offensive munitions. Included among the defensive items were the gas masks, impregnite, impregnating plants, protective ointment, detector kits, decontaminating apparatus and such miscellaneous items as shoe impregnite and dust respirators. 

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