Blood Agents Throughout History
The utilization of chemical weapons during war has been in use since the beginning of time. The first time chemical warfare was use dates back to 600 B.C where Greek soldiers would poison the water reservoirs of their enemies. During 423 B.C. the Spartan soldiers used sulfur to attack Greece. Later on, in 673 C.E. the Greek navy was infamous for using burning chemical in the open sea, creating a floating fire wall allowing them to earn maneuver superiority. The use of chemical warfare continued throughout the middle ages where the Mongolian army used catapults to throw burning sulfur to their enemies. Chemical warfare became weapons of mass destruction during WWI, during the war, over one million casualties were reported and over 90 thousand were killed (Fitzgerald, 2008). Since WW I chemical weapons have been utilized in the battlefield, most noticeable during the Iraq and Iran war in 1980. World Powers have realized that chemical warfare, even though it provides an enormous advantage in the battlefield, it also comes with years of secondary effects and could become an immense financial burden.
Types of Chemical Agents
The Center for Disease Control (CDC) has categorized the types of most commonly used chemical agents. The CDC also acts as an informational pool for the civilian population to understand the effects, symptoms and treatment of each chemical agent. The CDC categorized chemical agents under the following categories or types: biotoxins, blister agents/vesicants, blood agents, caustics (Acids), choking/lung/pulmonary agents, incapacitating agents, long-acting anticoagulants, metals, nerve agents, organic solvents, riot control agents/tear gas, toxic alcohols, and vomiting agents (CDC,...
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Terrorism agent (2014). BLOOD AGENTS. Retrieved May 18, 2014 from http://www.sjcphs.org/healthcare_providers/Documents/05%20Terrorism%20Agents/27 %20Blood%20Agents.pdf
Walberg, M. A. (2002, March 12). Police find cyanide stash in CTA tunnel. Chicago Tribune .
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Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. O. F. (2014). Types of chemical agent/Blood agents. Retrieved May 16, 2014 from http://www.opcw.org/about-chemical-weapons/types-of-chemical-agent/blood- agents/hydrogen-cyanide/
Fitzgerald, G.J. (2008, July). Chemical Warfare and Medical Response during World War I. Publication Medical Central. Retrieved July, 2008 from
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3Brophy, L. (1959). The Chemical Warfare Service (1st ed.). Washington: Office of the Chief of
These applications include pesticide, herbicide, defoliating agent such as Agent Orange, cleaning agent and electrical insulation. Consequently, human exposure to dioxin is not a recent phenomenon and the dangers of dioxin are not unknown. Only in recent years, especially after the Vietnam War, has the media concentrated on the dangers and impact of dioxin. The physical effect of exposure to dioxin was first seen in skin diseases developed by chemical plant workers in 1895. Exposure to dioxin results in a type of skin disease like acne called "chloroacne," since its cause was initially and incorrectly linked to chlorine gas.
Medicine has developed so dramatically over the last century that it is difficult to imagine a world in which its many benefits did not exist. Even as humans manage to eradicate some diseases, a look at history reminds us that there was a time when these and other diseases were rampant, and good health was the exception rather than the norm. There are many comparable time periods that medicine was needed and was used. With each, there were drastic changes to medical procedures and medical rules. Of the many different time periods that medicine was used; the comparison of medical care during the American Civil War and medical care during World War I is the most interesting. How did Civil War battlefield medicine compare with World War I battlefield medicine? That's a question that cannot be simply answered, but can be broken down into the overall sanitation of individuals, medical techniques, and overall medical staff for armies.
Orange and Cancer"). The chemical was sprayed from airplanes on trees, base perimeters, roadways, and communication lines. It was also sprayed by riverboats and trucks (committee, 74). Agent Orange is a dioxin herbicide containing Dichlorophenoxyacetic and Trichlorophenoxyacetic acids. "Dioxin is the most toxic and most durable chemical mankind has developed so far" ("Vietnamese"). Both acids are highly toxic and considered mutagens ("Toxipedia"). Trichlorophenoxyacetic is considerabl...
One of the major diseases that almost permanently affected the soldiers was Shell Shock which was due to constant exposure to horrific scenes of death. Source A1 is an extract from a historian writing for the First World war aimed at students, focuses on ...
"Chemical Warfare Agents - Resources on the health effects from chemical weapons, emergency response & treatment, counterterrorism, and emergency preparedness.au.af." Specialized Information Services - Reliable information on toxicology, environmental health, chemistry, HIV/AIDS, and minority health. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 May 2010.
Trueman, Chris. "Chemical Warfare and World War Two." Chemical Warfare and World War Two. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Nov. 2013. .
In the early years of the Civil War, it became clear that disease would be the greatest killer. Twice as many Civil War soldiers died of disease than those killed in combat. This was due to unsanitary and filthy conditions, untrained medical personnel and poor medical examination of new soldier’s. One fact from the Civil War was 315,000 soldiers died from illnesses that included: 44,558 from diarrhea/dysentery, 10,063 from malaria, 34,833 from typhoid, 958 from typhus and 436 from yellow fever. The sanitary conditions that a cured during the civil war were shocking.
Fries, A. A., & West, C. J. (1921). Chemical warfare,. New York [etc.: McGraw-Hill book company, inc..
Poison gas was perhaps the most feared weapon out of all. Created to overcome the long stalemate style of trench warfare, its purpose was to draw out soldiers hiding in the trenches. One side would throw the poison gas into the enemy trenches and they would either wait for their enemy to come out into open fire or perish in the trenches. The first poison gas used in battle was chlorine at the start of the Second Battle of Ypres on April 22, 1915 by the Germans. Shortly after, followed the phosgene. The effects of these gases were ghastly. Chlorine was the most deadly as "within seconds of inhaling its vapor, it destroys the victim's respiratory organs, bringing on choking attacks" (Duffy). Phosgene had similar effects, except the fact that the effects started kicking in after 48 hours of inhalation. In September 1917, the Germans introduced the mustard gas or Yperite which was contained in artillery shells against the Russians at Riga. Those exposed t...
Poisons come in different forms and act in different ways. They can act locally, absorption through the body, or both. There are three different categories that poisons are put into: inorganic, organic, and asphyxiants...
Many people throughout the world visit the United States every year to receive medical treatment. This is due to our excellent pharmaceutical industry as it spends million of dollars and many hours of research to come up with what we can only describe as “miracle” drugs and treatments. Part of the success of many of these medications is because the pharmaceutical industry is highly regulated by policies that protect the public from accessing drugs that have not been fully tested and found to be “safe”. However, this was not the case until the late 1990s and early 2000s. One time in history that highly influenced the strict regulations we currently have was the nationwide contamination of patients through blood transfusion or by consuming medications
Cashman, J. (2000). Emergency Response to Chemical and Biological Agents. Boca Raton, FL. Lewis Publishers.
I will be investigating Human Blood as my specific tissue and giving an overview on the location, characteristics, and the benefits it has to the human body. Blood is extracellular matrix that is consists of plasma, red blood cells, platelets, and white blood cells. Blood is located within the capillaries/veins/arteries of the human body, which are blood vessels that run through the entire body. These blood vessels allow the blood to flow smoothly and quickly from the heart to distinct parts of the human body. The unique parts of human blood all work together for a purpose: the Red Blood Cells(erythrocytes) transports oxygen throughout the body, White Blood Cells(leukocytes) play a part in the bodies immune system, Platelets(thrombocytes) assist in creating scabs,
Mustard gas is one of the strongest blistering agents, which was used as warfare. It was first utilized by French troops in the year 1914 when they fired tear-gas grenades against the Germans. Though, an effective study was conducted by the Germans regarding Mustard gas and then used by their army in 1917 against British and Canadian soldiers in Belgium, near the town of YPRES in WORLD WAR I. Along with mustard gas, phosgene also came into existence, during WORLD WAR I.