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Phosgene was used by the German army from the end of May 1915, when attacks were conducted on the Western Front against French troops and on the Eastern Front on Russians, where 12,000 cylinders with 240–264 long tons (244–268 t) of 95 per cent chlorine and 5 per cent phosgene was discharged on a 7.5 mi (12 km) front at Bolimów. [5]
Phosgene was first deployed as a chemical weapon by the French in 1915 in World War I. [24] It was also used in a mixture with an equal volume of chlorine, with the chlorine helping to spread the denser phosgene. [25] [26] Phosgene was more potent than chlorine, though some symptoms took 24 hours or more to manifest.
German phosgene came in the form of diphosgene, codenamed Grün Kreuz (Green cross). This was less effective than its allied counterpart, being less toxic and slower to evaporate, but was easier to handle in shell manufacture early in the war. [35] Phosgene was a potent killing agent, deadlier than chlorine.
A chemical weapon (CW) is a specialized munition that uses chemicals formulated to inflict death or harm on humans. According to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), this can be any chemical compound intended as a weapon "or its precursor that can cause death, injury, temporary incapacitation or sensory irritation through its chemical action.
The first World War saw chemicals especially chlorine, phosgene and mustard gas used heavily. Over 100,000 tons of toxic gas was produced by the end of the war in 1918. For the most part gas masks neutralized advantages. Gas injured many soldiers but it did not change the course of the war. There were no permanent environmental effects. [11] [12]
The effect of the gas was similar to that of the phosgene discharge of 19 December 1915 but in a more concentrated form, in which a short exposure to the gas was fatal. The course of the cloud could be seen by the staining of grass and vegetation as far as Bailleul, where shoots and leaves withered; cattle died 2 mi (3.2 km) to the north-east.
Tests were carried out on servicemen to determine the effects of nerve agents on human subjects, with one recorded death due to a nerve gas experiment. There have been persistent allegations of unethical human experimentation at Porton Down, such as those relating to the death of Leading Aircraftman Ronald Maddison , aged 20, in 1953.
Chloropicrin and its derivative phosgene oxime have been known to damage or compromise earlier generations of personal protective equipment. Some of the soldiers attacked mentioned a white smoke emerging from their gas masks.