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3 History and Analysis of Mustard Agent and Lewisite Research Programs in the United States
Pages 21-60

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From page 21...
... and the postwar period of 1919 to 1940, including the development of Lewisite and nitrogen mustard. The major focus of this chapter, however, is to describe the research programs and protocols relating to mustard agents and Lewisite, initiated just prior to World War II (WWlI)
From page 22...
... INTRODUCTION Sulfur Mustard Sulfur mustard (C4H~Cl2S) is one of a class of chemical warfare agents known as vesicants because of their ability to form vesicles, or blisters, on exposed skin (see Figure ~1~.
From page 25...
... During WWl, a U.S. chemical warfare research laboratory investigating arsenic compounds as potential war gases developed the potent vesicant, subsequently named "Lewisite" after the research group director.
From page 26...
... Thus, tragically, the combat casualties of WWI became the first large group of experimental subjects in studies of the medical effects of sulfur mustard. Organized research into chemical warfare agents began in earnest in Britain and France after the German chlorine gas attack in 1915.
From page 27...
... In 1918, a presidential order moved the research program from essentially civilian control under NRC to military control under the War Department. This move gave birth to the Chemical Warfare Service (CWS)
From page 28...
... This group continued toxicological studies of chemical warfare agents, induding sulfur and nitrogen mustards and Lewisite; investigated the lethal and sublethal concentrations of the agents; and renewed investigations into protective ointments. In addition, the group formalized what was known regarding treatment of gas casualties and attempted to examine the residual effects of exposure to various chemical warfare agents.
From page 29...
... TESTING PROGRAMS AND CHEMICAL WARFARE PRODUCTION IN WORLD WAR 11 As the war in Europe eroded U.S. neutrality, preparations began to revitalize and expand the activities of the Chemical Warfare Service.
From page 30...
... Chamber and field tests were conducted by the Chemical Warfare Service and the Navy Department, Office of Research and Inventions. Civilian researchers from the NDRC and CMR worked in close communication with the military.
From page 31...
... Chamber tests of various types were conducted to test the effectiveness of protective clothing, all of which had been impregnated with chemicals to retard vapor penetration. Finally, field tests involved the contamination of large or small areas of land with sulfur mustard or Lewisite.
From page 32...
... Patch tests (reported) aThis represents only a partial list of locations, especially for patch tests because patch exposures were a frequent part of training at Chemical Warfare Schools.
From page 33...
... The presence of protective clothing and/or a gas mask reduces considerably the amount of agent reaching such a target tissue. Sections of this chapter to follow contain estimates and analysis of the probable cumulative exposures achieved in the chamber and field tests, as well as occupational situations.
From page 34...
... 34 Ct CD X o a' V, o Cat CD .5 u In o a - o G .
From page 35...
... , and from the Fasciculus on Chemical Warfare Medicine, Volume III: Skin and Systemic Poisons (NRC, 1945, declassification date unknown)
From page 36...
... However, these sources are not exhaustive, and the details of chamber tests in locations such as Edgewood Arsenal and Great Lakes Naval Training Center were not made available to the committee for evaluation. Further, only the NRL has maintained accurate records of the individuals who participated in the tests (close to 2,500 men)
From page 37...
... Gas masks shown are Navy diaphragm-type masks. SOURCE: Heinen et al., 1945.
From page 38...
... (B) Photograph of the inside of a similar gas chamber used at Edgewood Arsenal for World War 11 chamber tests (the numbers refer to specific equipment)
From page 39...
... The concentrations, times of exposures, and types of chemical agents used in other locations may not be similar, however, and full reports of other chamber tests were not made available to this committee. There is evidence that some chamber tests may have been done with higher cumulative exposures, because
From page 40...
... field tests involved human subjects who were not protected by clothing or even gas masks. The Summary Technical Report of the NDRC (OSRD, 1946, Table 8, p.
From page 41...
... The cumulative exposures reported for these tests ranged from 50 to 10,000 Ct. The appendixes to the Report of the Chemical Warfare Service Conference of October 10-13, 1944, obtained from the National Archives, describe various field tests (COOS, 1944~.
From page 42...
... noted that during the first two weeks of December 1941, 577 patients were treated for eye and respiratory tract injuries from exposure to chemical warfare agents, especially sulfur mustard. The CWS locations where these injuries occurred were not reported.
From page 43...
... . The model numbers of canisters used in gas masks employed in the chamber or field tests are not known, but M9A1 canisters were in common use prior to July 1943 (Brophy et al., 1959)
From page 44...
... Medical Applications of Chemical Warfare Research As history has repeatedly shown, the experience of medical personnel and researchers in wartime can lead to major innovations in medical treatment practices. Such was the case with chemical warfare research in WWII.
From page 45...
... For the purposes of the present report, discussion is confined to only those research programs that used human subjects. Once WWII was over, all of the research programs of the Chemical Warfare Service were scaled down.
From page 46...
... were also of special interest. Most of this research was done at or supervised by personnel from Edgewood Arsenal; it involved approximately 6,700 human subjects between 1950 and 1975.
From page 47...
... A further study of this cohort 10 years later did not alter these results (Norman, 1975~.5 To the present committee's knowledge, no human subjects have been used in tests of mustard agents or Lewisite in the United States since the 1960s. Continuing Use of Sulfur Mustard and Other Chemical Weapons in International Conflicts Military use of sulfur mustard was a topic at the Paris Conference on the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in January 1939.
From page 48...
... stockpile of sulfur mustard, currently stored at seven military installations on the continental United States (Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland; Anniston Army Depot, Alabama; LexingtonBlue Grass Army Depot, Kentucky; Pine Bluff Arsenal, Arkansas; Pueblo Depot Activity, Colorado; Tooele Army Depot, Utah; Umatilla Depot Activity, Oregon) and one location in the South Pacific Johnston Island, U.S.
From page 49...
... In response, DoD established the Chemical Stockpile Disposal Program in 1986, but the target completion date has been postponed to 2004. Unitary munitions contain a lethal chemical agent at the time the munition is loaded; in contrast, binary munitions contain agent precursors that mix and react to form lethal agent after the munition is fired.
From page 50...
... CONCLUSIONS AND FURTHER ANALYSIS The committee reached two principal conclusions based on its analysis of the chemical warfare testing programs from WWI through 1975. These conclusions relate directly to the estimated level of exposure to mustard agents and Lewisite experienced by the WWII chamber and field test subjects and to the exposures of workers in the Chemical Warfare Service during WWII.
From page 51...
... · The atmosphere of immediacy caused by the outbreak of war, and the resulting prioritization of expected combat injuries, at least strengthened the focus on acute damage from chemical warfare agents, and at worst dampened any sensitivities that were present regarding the future health of human subjects or chemical warfare production workers. · Once the war was over, there may also have been ambiguities about which federal department or agency should have had responsibility for follow-up of veterans.
From page 52...
... The most important route of additional exposure in the chamber and field tests was probably gas mask leakage. From the information available to the committee, it appears that the vast majority of the human subjects in the chamber and field tests wore fur-face gas masks during their exposures.
From page 53...
... Information on the breakthrough capacity of the gas mask cartridges used in the WWII chamber tests was not available to the committee, but it is known that prolonged use of cartridges can result in breakthrough of the agent by exceeding the capacity of the absorbent filter material (Stampfer, 1982~. In the NRL chamber test reports examined by the present committee, when gas mask types were listed, the masks used were Mark III or Mark
From page 54...
... Finally, as mentioned previously, the special diaphragm element in the types of gas masks used in the NRL chamber tests was eventually shown to provide an additional route of mask leakage, independent of the filter capacity (Brophy et al., 1959~. The presence of erythema of the face, conjunctivitis, laryngitis, or bronchitis within 24 to 72 hours following an exposure to sulfur mustard or Lewisite would be clear evidence that a significant inhalation and eye exposure had occurred, even if the subject was wearing a mask during the exposure.
From page 55...
... The focus here on chamber and field test subjects is not meant to discount the probable exposure levels experienced by those who were involved in the production or handling of mustard agents and Lewisite. Indeed, as outlined above, the poor safety record of the Chemical Warfare Service during the peak years of production, the high rate of agent-induced injuries, and the anecdotal reports of perceptible odors of sulfur mustard in the manufacturing areas argue that workers and gas handlers were often exposed to levels of mustard agents and Lewisite sufficient to cause short- and long-term health effects.
From page 56...
... In: Division 9, National Defense Research Committee, comp. Chemical Warfare Agents, and Related Chemical Problems.
From page 57...
... 1946. Symposium on advances in pharmacology resulting from war research: therapeutic applications of chemical warfare agents.
From page 58...
... 1947. Edward Gamaliel Janeway lecture: the sword and the ploughshare (dichloroethyl sulfide poisoning at Bari, 1943 and work of Chemical Warfare Service, especially on nitrogen mustards or chloroethylamines)
From page 59...
... 1992. Toxicodynamics of organoarsenic chemical warfare agents.
From page 60...
... 1925. The Medical Aspects of Chemical Warfare.


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