Sulphur mustard gas

With supreme irony, the beginnings of modern cancer chemotherapy had an origin in chemical warfare [7,8j. Autopsy findings from the lymphatic glands of soldiers killed in the First World War by exposure to sulphur mustard gas... 

Yamakido, M., Nishimoto, Y., Shigenobu, T., Onari, K., Satoh, C., Goriki, K., Fujita, M. (1985). Study of genetic effects of sulphur mustard gas on former workers of Okunojima poison gas factory and their offspring, if/roi/hma J. Med. Sci. 34 311-22. 

SYNS BIS(P-CHLOROETHYL)SULFIDE BIS(2-CHLOROETHYL)SULPHIDE l-CHLORO-2-(p-CHLOROETHYLTHIO)ETHANE P.P-DICHLOR-ETHYDSULPHIDE D 2,2 -DICHLORODIETHYL SULFIDE DI-2-CHLOROETHYL SULFIDE D P,P -DICHLOROETHYL SULFIDE 2,2 -DICHLOROETHYL SULPHIDE (MAK) DISTILLED MUSTARD KAMPSTOFF LOST MUSTARD GAS MUSTARD HD MUSTARD VAPOR SCHWEFEL-LOST S-LOST S MUSTARD SULFUR MUSTARD SULFUR MUSTARD GAS SULPHUR MUSTARD GAS 1,1 -TH10BIS(2-CHLOROETHANE) YELLOW CROSS LIQUID YPERITE... 

Common Name(s) Distilled Mustard, Kampfstoff "Lost", Mustard HD, Mustard Vapor, Mustard Sulfur, S Mustard, S-Lost, S-Yperite, Schwefel-Lost, Sulfur Mustard, Sulfur Mustard Gas, Sulphur Mustard, Sulphur Mustard Gas, Yellow Cross Liquid, Yperite... 

Davison C, Rozman RS and Smith PK (1961). Metabolism of bis-B-chlorethyl sulfide (sulphur mustard gas). Biochem Pharmacol, 1, 65-74. 

S-Yperite Schwefel-lost Senfgas Sulfide, bis(2-ohloroethyl) Sulfur mustard Sulfur mustard gas Sulphur mustard Sulphur mustard gas 1,1 -Thiobis 2-chloroethane) UN 2927 Yellow cross liquid Yellow Cross Gas Yperite. Used as a military poison gas. Inactivated by sodium or calcium hypochlorite. Gas mpn 13-14° bp = 216°, bpio = 98° d - 1.2741 LDso (rat iv) = 3.3 mg/kg. 

Mustard gas slowly hydrolyses in water and forms hydrochloric acid and thiodiglycol. Both final products of the hydrolysis are non-toxic. The hydrolysis is dependent on temperature, density, viscosity, pH value and pressure. Because mustard gas is relatively insoluble, the slower dissolving process is the main factor of interest here. There is a huge difference between distilled water and normal sea water. In distilled water the half-life is 8.5 minutes at 25oC, while for salt water at the same temperature the half-life is 60 minutes. For sea water the hydrolysis will be slowed down by a factor of more than 3 times. The pace of hydrolysis of sulphur mustard gas also depends on the content of salt (cations and anions) in an aqueous solution. The reported half-life of sulphur mustard gas in sea-water is 15 minutes at 25oC, 49 minutes at 15oC, and 175 minutes at 5oC. ... 

With respect to the solubility of sulphur mustard gas, the following example seems illustrative. In quiescent water at 18oC, it would take 15 days for half the mass of an agent droplet with an initial diameter of 1 cm to dissolve. This is enough time for other processes to slow or even halt further dissolution and hydrolysis, such as the formation of oligomeric/polymeric layers. 

If sulphur mustard gas spilled into water bodies, the agent would sink to the bottom because its density is higher than that of water.Small droplets would show some tendency to dissolve during this process, larger droplets would reach the sediment and survive there for a longer period of time. It is proven that sulphur mustard gas can resist degradation in water or in soil for years. 

When mustard gas is kept on the sea-bed, the degree of agitation and current velocity will have an impact on the speed of hydrolysis, too. Mustard gas at the bottom of the sea can survive in oil-like forms. An estimation of the behaviour of sulphur mustard gas indicates a theoretically long, but finite, half-life for the agent in the cold conditions of the ocean deep. Estimations have predicted that a one-tonne block of sulphur mustard gas would take about 5 years to dissolve. Because the dissolution rate is lower than the rate of hydrolysis, it will become the decisive rate. Low temperature and high pressure can provide the proper circumstances for solidification of mustard gas. 

Inhaled gas warfare continued to be a major factor in the trench warfare of 1916, but in 1917, a new agent, sulphur mustard gas, was used by the Germans with continuing success. Mustard gas was designed to disable combatants rather than to kill, and it proved to be one of the most insidious of CW agents. It still remains a major military and terrorist threat up to the present day. 

Some victims were noted to have bright blue lips raising the question about whether hydrogen cyanide had been included in the chemical munition. This is an impurity in the nerve gas tabun (GA). Intelligence has shown that the Iraqi Army had the capability to produce this nerve agent and sarin together with sulphur mustard gas. 

Vesicants Sulphur mustard gas -1-14.5 -1-227.8 Liquid and vapour 5.4 Garlic or mustard... 

---