Diphosgene (DP, trichloromethylchloroformate) was a product of the chemical weapons race in World War I. It belongs to a class of chemicals termed lung-damaging agents or choking agents. These agents attack lung tissue directly, causing pulmonary edema. Diphosgene is described not only as a respiratory irritant but also as a lacrimator.
diphosgene
Chlorine, Diphosgene, Tearing Agent, and Mustard Gas were used as poisions in WWI
This poison gas, developed by the German scientist Fritz Haber, turned to hydrochloric acid in the lungs of anyone who breathed the fumes.
The basic answer is a nerve agent, but the most famous one I know that makes you drool and cough and release your bodily fluids, is Sarin. Wanna know more? CHeck it out on Wikipedia and see the movie "saw 2" the effects described there are actually quite similar to the effects of sarin. :)
A couple of different gasses were used. The first gas used was a tear gas containing xylyl bromide. More dangerous gasses included chlorine, phosgene and diphosgene which attacked the lungs. The most notorious was mustard gas - Dichlorethylsulphide - a blistering gas. Not only would it attack the lungs, but it also attacked skin, burning exposed flesh and causing lungs to bleed.
In the immediacy of things, approximately 91,000 died because of poison gas. However, there was an indeterminate number of deaths in the following years, that were caused by the effects of the gas.
Poison Gas is a term for various lethal or temporarily disabling gaseous substances used in riot and warfare. The term chemical warfare includes the use of poison gases, as well as incendiary materials and smoke producing devices. Gas masks and heavy, gas proof clothing protect adequately against most poisonous gases.Tear GasTypes of Gases Used against Humans:Blister Gases like mustard gas was first used by the German Army in WWI, it was the most lethal of all the poisonous chemicals used during the war and it was almost odorless and took twelve hours to take effect. Mustard gas often remains on the ground for several days. This gas produces a reddening of the eyes, skin, and mucous membranes, followed by blisters. The bronchial tubes are irritated, and pneumonia usually develops. Mustard gas, which is lethal only in heavy concentrations, is used to incapacitate troops.Choking Gases like chlorine, phosgene, and diphosgene, attack the respiratory tract. Chlorine was first used in WWI, it destroy the respiratory of its victims (it produces quick irritation and choking) and this led to a slow death by asphyxiation. The immediate effect of phosgene and diphosgene is less noticeable, but the lungs slowly fill with fluids and the victim suffocates within a few days.Nerve Gases, such as Tabun (or GA), Sarin(or GB), and Soman (or GD), are colorless, odorless, and tasteless. These gases destroy the normal functioning of nerves and muscles. It can be easily absorbed through the skin by means of inhalation, or ingestion. The victim dies within a few minutes after the poisons enter the blood.Symptoms includes: Runny nose, Bronchial secretions, Tightness in the chest, Blurring of vision, Pin-Point Pupils, Drooling, Excessive perspiration, Nausea, Vomiting, involuntary defecation, urination, muscle tremors, convulsions, Coma, Death
Nerve gasses were used in the trenches because they were denser than air, and when released would sink and fill the trenches where the gasses blew. The gasses would, essentially, kill you entirely if you breathed them in, so soldiers had to wear chemical gear including gas masks and the like. Often soldiers would not be able to put on the gear fast enough and fall victim to the gasses, and often the side who released the gas would be surprised by a change in wind direction and be killed by their own gasses.
According to Critical Will:About 70 different chemicals have been used or stockpiled as Chemical Weapons (CW) agents during the 20th century. These chemicals are in liquid, gas or solid form and blister, choke and affect the nerves or blood. Chemical warfare agents are generally classified according to their effect on the organism and can be roughly grouped as: Nerve Agents, Mustard Agents, Hydrogen Cyanide, Tear Gases, Arsines, Psychotomimetic Agents, Toxins and Potential CW Agents.Under the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) chemicals are divided into three groups, defining their purpose and treatment:* Schedule One are those typically used in weapons such as sarin and mustard gas and tabun;* Schedule Two include those that can be used in weapons such as amiton and BZ;* Schedule Three chemicals include the least toxic substances that can be used for research and the production of medicine, dyes, textiles, etc.CW agents mainly used against people are divided into lethal and incapacitating categories. A substance is classified as incapacitating if less than 1/100 of the lethal dose causes incapacitation, e.g., through nausea or visual problems. The limit between lethal and incapacitating substances is not absolute but refers to a statistical average.Incendiary agents such as napalm and phosphorus are not considered to be CW agents since they achieve their effect mainly through thermal energy. Certain types of smoke ammunition are not classed as a chemical weapon since the poisonous effect is not the reason for their use. Plants, microorganisms, the produced toxins belong to that class. Pathogenic microorganisms, mainly viruses and bacteria, are classed as biological weapons.* Chemicals that blister: sulphur mustard, lewisite, nitrogen mustard, mustard-leweisite, phosgene-oxime.* Chemicals that affect the nerves: VX, Sarin, Soman, tabun, novichole agents.* Chemicals that cause choking: cholrine, phosgene, diphosgene, chloropicrin.* Chemicals that affect the blood: herygem, cynanide, cynaogen chlorine.* Chemicals for riot control: tear agent 2 (SN gas), tear agent 0 (CS gas), psychedelic agent 3 (BZ)Two examples:* Mustard is an oily liquid with a garlic-like smell. Mustard gas was first used as a chemical-warfare agent during WWI, when it war responsible for about 70% of the million-plus gas casualties. Both in vapour and in liquid form its effect is to burn any body-tissue which it touches. Taken into the body, it can act as a systemic poison-- deadlier, weight for weight than hydrogen cyanide. Its burning effects are not normally apparent for some hours after exposure, whereupon they build up into the hideous picture of blindness, blistering and lung damage. Its most prominent use after that war was by Italy in Ethiopia during 1936. During WWII it was produced by Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, South Africa, the USA and the USSR. It was the CW agent that was stockpiled in by far the largest quantity on the order of hundreds of thousands of tons overall but used only by Japan in China. It is probably still the most heavily stockpiled CW agent today. Its last established use appears to have been by Egypt intervening in the (North) Yemeni civil war of the mid-1960s.* Tabun, or ethyl NN-dimethylphosphoramidocyanidate, otherwise known as GA, is a liquid that evaporates only half as fast as mustard gas, but is a powerful poison. Even short exposure to small concentrations of its vapour can result in almost immediate symptoms, felt first in the chest (as a persistent contraction of the pupil) and chest (as a tightness or asthma-like constriction). If a lethal dosage has been induced, either from inhalation of the vapour or be absorption of the liquid through the skin, a characteristic sequence of toxic manifestations ensues, some of great violence, including running nose, sweating, involuntary urination and defecation, vomiting, twitching, convulsions, paralysis and unconscious.
confinecompeteconsumeconfusediseaserestaterespitedeclinedivorcediversedefenseenforceinflameinclinemistakerestaterepleteremorsereclinesqueeze