| Dictionary, Encyclopedia and Thesaurus - The Free Dictionary 1,519,648,826 visitors served. |
Dictionary/ thesaurus | Medical dictionary | Legal dictionary | Financial dictionary | Acronyms | Idioms | Encyclopedia | Wikipedia encyclopedia | ? |
mustard gas |
Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Wikipedia, Hutchinson | 0.10 sec. |
|
mustard gas, chemical compound used as a poison gas poison gas, any of various gases sometimes used in warfare or riot control because of their poisonous or corrosive nature. These gases may be roughly grouped according to the portal of entry into the body and their physiological effects. ..... Click the link for more information. in World War I. The burning sensation it causes on contact with the skin is similar to that caused by oil from black mustard seeds. The compound is not a gas but a colorless, oily liquid with a somewhat sweet, agreeable odor; it boils at 217°C;. A powerful vesicant, mustard gas causes severe blistering even in small quantities. Highly irritating to the eyes, it quickly causes conjunctivitis and blindness. If inhaled, it attacks the respiratory tract and lungs, causing pulmonary edema. Some effects of exposure to mustard gas are delayed up to 12 hr; death may result several days after exposure. Mustard gas was introduced by the Germans in warfare against the British at Ypres, Belgium, in July, 1917, and took a heavy toll of casualties. It is dispersed as an aerosol by a bursting shell. Chemically, mustard gas is a thioether, 2,2′-dichlorodiethyl sulfide, (ClCH2CH2)2S. It can be prepared by reacting ethylene with sulfur monochloride, S2Cl2, or by other methods. Its vesicant property is readily destroyed either by oxidation or by chlorination (e.g., with bleaching powder). mustard gas an oily liquid vesicant compound used in chemical warfare. Its vapour causes blindness and burns. Formula: (ClCH2CH2)2S |
|
| ? Mentioned in | ? References in periodicals archive | |
|---|---|---|
The main chemicals found were mustard gas and an arsenic-based blistering agent called lewisite. The Pentagon said Tuesday that it would notify 20,000 veterans of the 1991 Gulf War - four times more than previously announced - that they might have been exposed to nerve gas and blistering agents when a battalion of U. Several hundred men from a North Carolina-based Army engineer battalion were in an area where a demolition team blew up a bunker that may have contained Iraqi rockets tipped with the nerve agent sarin and a mustard blistering agent. |
| Encyclopedia |
| Free Tools: |
For surfers:
Browser extension |
Word of the Day |
Help
For webmasters: Free content | Linking | Lookup box | Double-click lookup | Partner with us |
|---|