Phosgene gas
History
Phosgene was first used by the Germans, later on however the French, Americans, and British used phosgene. The first deployment of phosgene was at Ypres, the site of the first gas attack ever in history. The Germans released four thousand cylinders of phosgene combined with chlorine on the British on December 19th of 1915. After that phosgene was rarely used, this is because of the fact the using chemical weapons is frowned upon. Phosgene was responsible for most deaths in chemical warfare.
Properties
Phosgene is a white or pale yellow gas at room temperature, and has a odor of freshly cut corn. Phosgene is nonflammable but can be mixed with other chemicals to become flammable. Phosgene is four times denser than air, meaning that when it is used on the battlefield it will sink to the lowest places. Phosgene is created when a chlorinated hydrocarbon compounds is exposed to high temperatures.
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The effects on the body
When someone is exposed to a concentration over 0.4 parts per million they get severe symptoms. People devolved fluid in their lungs within two and six hours. It is very toxic and reacts to the proteins in the alveoli in the lungs, disrupting the blood air barrier. Phosgene is more effective then chlorine in the sense that phosgene can go into someones system and not effect them for forty eight hours. It is estimated that phosgene was responsible for 85% of all 91,000 deaths from gas. What made gasses so deadly is the fact that they wouldn't use just one gas, they would mix the gasses to have different effects. Both sides would mix the gas with other gasses that could bypass the masks and make them take it off. An example of this is when chloropicrin is mixed with gas. Chloropircin bypasses the gas masks and made the soldiers have coughing and sneezing fits. They then took off their mask and was exposed to the original gas, being chlorine or phosgene.