This presentation will provide a clinical description of the basic injuries due to chemical warfare. It will include the original substances brought forth during the Great War of 1914 to 1918. The chemicals utilized may present with characteristic syndromes and medical injuries. It may be helpful, in studying and cataloguing these substances, to understand the various biological and medical effects associated with the use of this type of warfare.<br/>Injuries due to exposure to these substances, whether in manufacturing or use as weapons of mass destruction, may range from mild to life-threatening. Immediate illness followed by varying degrees of chronic injury are common. The onset of death may range from minutes to even months or years. Multiple organ systems may be, and usually are, affected in any one individual. Blindness, suffocation, organ failure, cardiac collapse and severe burns are common. These substances are capable of producing temporary organic and biological damage as well as perhaps even altering the DNA of the victim. Some of these substances are carcinogenic. These chemicals may persist for varying degrees of time in the environment into which they are released. The delivery systems of various compounds demonstrate widely varying degrees of lethality.<br/>

Chemical weapons: Clinical description and discussion of basic injuries

249th National Meeting (2015)

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