Among a multitude of unrealized ideas, New York City schoolteacher John Doughty recommends firing chlorine-gas projectiles at Confederate troops, and Confederate soldier Isham Walker suggests dropping canisters of poison gas from balloons. 1861–1865ĭuring the American Civil War civilians and soldiers on both sides propose using chemical weapons. 1845ĭuring the French conquest of Algeria, French troops force more than 1,000 members of a Berber tribe into a cave and then use smoke to kill them. 1675įrance and Germany sign the Strasbourg Agreement, the first international agreement to ban chemical weapons, in this case outlawing the use of poisoned bullets. Peloponnesian forces use sulfur fumes against the town of Plataea. The Athenian military taints the water supply of the besieged city of Kirrha with poisonous hellebore plants. Here are some notable moments in chemical warfare through the ages. Since the dawn of warfare people have sought new ways to kill one another. Mustard gas caused the highest number of casualties from chemical weapons-upward of 120,000 by some estimates-but it caused few direct deaths because the open air of the battlefield kept concentrations below the lethal threshold. Exposure sensitized victims further exposure even at lower doses produced symptoms. Mustard gas could also contaminate land where it had been deployed. As the blisters pop, they often become infected.
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Worse, skin begins to blister, particularly in moist areas, such as the armpits and genitals. Hours after exposure a victim’s eyes become bloodshot, begin to water, and become increasingly painful, with some victims suffering temporary blindness. It has a potent smell some say it reeks of garlic, gasoline, rubber, or dead horses. Like phosgene, its effects are not immediate. Mustard gas, a potent blistering agent, was dubbed King of the Battle Gases.
Phosgene was responsible for 85% of chemical-weapons fatalities during World War I. Although the Germans were the first to use phosgene on the battlefield, it became the primary chemical weapon of the Allies. After a day or two, victims’ lungs would fill with fluid, and they would slowly suffocate in an agonizing death. Phosgene is also a much stealthier weapon: it’s colorless, and soldiers did not at first know they had received a fatal dose. Phosgene, which smells like moldy hay, is also an irritant but six times more deadly than chlorine gas. At high enough doses it kills by asphyxiation. Three substances were responsible for most chemical-weapons injuries and deaths during World War I: chlorine, phosgene, and mustard gas.Ĭhlorine gas, used on the infamous day of April 22, 1915, produces a greenish-yellow cloud that smells of bleach and immediately irritates the eyes, nose, lungs, and throat of those exposed to it.
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