While it was not necessarily the most deadly poison gas from World War I, it did capture the public’s attention and many opposed its use in the war. Sulfur mustard is known as mustard gas, mustard agent, or by the military. This is because mustard gas caused terrible blistering of the skin and the mucous membranes in the airway. This type of chemical warfare agent is called a vesicant or blistering agent. Elsewhere, scientists experimented with gas-mask design, mass-production techniques, and the synthesis of new toxic chemicals. During World War I the effects of poison gas extended far beyond the battlefield to laboratories, factories, and government. However, victims of mustard gas attacks, suffered a terrible and painful fate. In 1916 the United States sent its first official observer to the trenches of Europe. With that said, while mustard gas caused the injuries described above it rarely led to death. Soldiers who were exposed to mustard gas would experience burning of the skin, blisters, swelling of the eyes and choking. As stated above, mustard gas was different from chlorine and phosgene in that gas masks were not effective since it also affected the surface of the skin. The German Army used it extensively in the war from the battlefields of Ypres and the Third Battle of Ypres to conflicts against Russian soldiers on the Eastern Front. The last significant poisonous gas that saw use in World War I was mustard gas, which the German forces first introduced into the battlefields of the war. Gas masks and other measures made chlorine gas much less effective, and led the armies of World War I to search for a new and more deadly form of poison gas. As well, as the war progressed, soldiers were supplied with proper gas masks or gas hoods to help prevent the devastating effects of the gas. While the German use of poisonous gas was criticized heavily in the Allied nations, it would eventually become a weapon used by both sides in World War I. Some soldiers in World War I were known to urinate on rags and cover their faces with the rags in an attempt to prevent the gas from entering their airway. As it was the first use, soldiers were unprepared for its effects and did not have gas masks to protect themselves. In fact, soldiers essentially died from asphyxiation, which was a lack of oxygen. The effects of chlorine gas were quick and deadly. In fact, the greenish plumes of chlorine gas sent waves of fear throughout the ranks of the Allied soldiers at Ypres and caused them to scramble for safety. It caused soldiers to choke and suffocate as their lungs became inflamed from the gas. Chlorine gas was first used by the Germans against Allied soldiers in April of 1915 during the Second Battle of Ypres and immediately had a devastating effect on soldiers in the trenches. For instance, chlorine gas was the first lethal poison gas that was used in World War I. However, World War I is famous today for the terrible effects of the lethal poison gases that were used.
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