Vesicant gases

TNA, WO189/3242 CDRE(I), Report No. 254, Protection of the Scrotal Area against Vesicant Gases , 28 May 1943. 

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... 

Hazard Vesicant gas, a poison. See arsenic. Use Poison gas, skin-blistering agent. 

Numerous organic reactions of sulfur monochloride are of practical and commercial importance. Of particular importance is the reaction of sulfur monochloride with olefins to yield various types of addition products (142). With ethylene, the severe vesicant bis(2-chloroethyl) sulfide [505-60-2] (mustard gas) forms with elemental sulfur and polysulfides (see Chemicals IN war). Propylene reacts similarly ... 

Alkyl sulphides are the sulphur analogues of ethers from which they differ considerably in chemistry. They are unpleasant-smelling oils, insoluble in water but soluble in organic solvents. They tend to be comparatively inert. Mustard gas, CICH2CH2—S—CH2CH2CI, an oily liquid boiling at 216°C with a mustard-like smell, is highly poisonous and a vesicant, and for this reason found use in chemical warfare. 

Gelbkreuz-geschoss, n. (MU.) "yellow cross projectile or shdl. -kampfstoff, -stoff, m. yellow cross shell filling (mustard gas or other vesicant). 

Mustard gas (H)—also known as yellow cross, yperite, sulfur mustard, Schwefellost, bis(2-chloroethyl) sulfide, and dichlor-diethylsulfide—is a chemical-warfare agent with both vesicant and systemic effects. H is colorless and almost odorless and is an oily liquid at 14-215°C with a molecular weight of 159.08. Except in extremely cold weather, the low vapor pressure (0.072 mm Hg at 20°C) and low volatility of H are sufficient to make contaminated surfaces a source of danger to anyone nearby. H is slightly soluble... 

Except with high concentrations of H, the initial vesicating reaction may take hours, so that more of the agent is absorbed before its presence is recognized. Cullumbine, describing the action of an experimental droplet on human skin, said, "The first macroscopic sign of the action of mustard gas appears under temperate climatic conditions about two hours later" (after application). Penetration of the skin is rapid, but only about 12X remains in the skin, the rest moving into the circulatory system. 

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. 

Mustard gas is not only a vesicant, but also a systemic poison. Its a ute effects have been demonstrated in bone marrow, intestinal tract, and respiratory tract. It can cause blindness and permanent... 

As mentioned above, gas has been widely used and it is a powerful vesicant agent. In the form of vapor, it damages the respiratory tract. Eyes become temporarily blind and the skin in contact with the substance becomes inflammatory. The sweaty zones of skin are the most damaged as well as sensitive mucous membranes. If no treatment is applied, the cutaneous reaction provokes blisters full of liquid after 4-8 h. Spread in the form of particles, the gas penetrates the respiratory tract and destroys the mucous membranes with a respiration distress syndrome. Lungs suffer from emphysemae and edema due to the presence of fluids, which may cause a death similar to a drowning if the dose is too strong. 

The first chelating agent developed as an antidote to a heavy metal poison was 2,3-dimereaptopropanol (dimercaprol, British Anti-Lewisite, BAL). Originally intended for use on victims of the arsenical vesicant poison gas Lewisite52, it has since proved efficacious in the treatment of antimony, gold and mercury poisoning as well as... 

P.A. D Agostino and L.R. Provost, Gas chromatographic retention indices of sulfur vesicants and related compounds, 7. Chromatogr., 436, 399-411 (1988). 

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