WORLD HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -It is estimated that as many as 85% of the 91, 000 gas deaths in WWI were a result of phosgene or the related agent, diphosgene (trichloromethane chloroformate). The most commonly used gas in WWI was ‘mustard gas’ [bis(2-chloroethyl) sulfide].

Detailed explanation-2: -The most widely used, mustard gas, could kill by blistering the lungs and throat if inhaled in large quantities. Its effect on masked soldiers, however, was to produce terrible blisters all over the body as it soaked into their woollen uniforms.

Detailed explanation-3: -By the end of the war the Germans produced the most poison gas with 68, 000 tons, the French second with approximately 36, 000 tons and the British produced approximately 25, 000 tons. About three percent of gas casualties were fatal, but hundreds of thousands suffered temporary or permanent injuries.

Detailed explanation-4: -By the time of the armistice on November 11, 1918, the use of chemical weapons such as chlorine, phosgene, and mustard gas had resulted in more than 1.3 million casualties and approximately 90 000 deaths (Table 1 ▶).