Sulfur Mustard: Blister Agent

DESCRIPTION: MUSTARD GAS IS A VESICANT THAT WAS FIRST USED IN CHEMICAL WARFARE IN WORLD WAR I (EVEN THOUGH DISCOVERED PREVIOUSLY). IT CONSISTS OF AN OILY LIQUID OR CLEAR VAPOR. THE UN REPORTS ‘AFTER WWI’ THE FOLLOWING USAGES OF HD : RUSSIA (1919), MOROCCO (1923-1926), ABYSSINIA (1935-1940), MANCHURIA (1937-1945), YEMEN (1963-1967), IRAQ/IRAN (1982-1988), POSSIBLE SYRIA (2014). UN #: 2810 (GUIDE 153). CDC REPORTS HD DAMAGES CELLS WITHIN MINUTES OF CONTACT; HOWEVER, PAIN AND OTHER HEALTH EFFECTS ARE DELAYED UNTIL HOURS AFTER EXPOSURE. HD IN LARGE DOSES CAN BE FATAL. HD IS 2 TO 5 TIMES MORE PERSISTENT IN WINTER THAN IN SUMMER. UN #: 2810 (GUIDE 153). THE CDC STATES THAT HD AFFECTS THE NERVOUS SYSTEM CAUSING "CHOLINERGIC TOXICITY" WITH THE FOLLOWING SYMPTOMS: EXCESSIVE SALIVA, TEARS AND URINE; GASTROINTESTINAL (GI) CRAMPING AND DIARRHEA; VOMITING (EMESIS); AND CONSTRICTED OR PINPOINT PUPILS (MIOSIS). HD HAS AN ODOR OF GARLIC, ONION, HORSERADISH, OR MUSTARD.