Chemical Weapon - Mustard Gas

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What It Is

Mustard gas is a potentially deadly chemical agent that attacks the skin and eyes—and one of the best known and most potent chemical weapons. Unlike the symptoms of exposure to other chemical agents which usually appear immediately, the symptoms of exposure to mustard gas appear one to six hours or more later. This makes mustard gas especially insidious, since victims can suffer tissue damage before they even realize they need treatment. Mustard gas also attacks a cell’s DNA, so it can cause cancer and birth defects.

What It Does

Mustard gas causes severe blisters and, if inhaled, can also damage the lungs and other organs. It is usually disabling—sometimes gruesomely so—but not fatal.

Be Prepared

No antidote exists for mustard gas exposure, so the best thing to do is avoid it. Immediately leave the area where the sulfur mustard was released. Try to find higher ground, because sulfur mustard gas is heavier than air and will settle in low-lying areas. If avoiding sulfur mustard gas exposure is not possible, rapidly remove the sulfur mustard gas from the body. Getting the sulfur mustard gas off as soon as possible after exposure is the only effective way to prevent or decrease tissue damage to the body.

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