Information AboutLewisite |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT LEWISITE | |
| chemical weapons | |
| the catholic university of america | |
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Lewisite is a Chemical Compound from a chemical family called Arsine s. While it is a colorless and odorless liquid when pure it is usually found as an oily, brown liquid with a distinct odor similar to geraniums. It is a Chemical Weapon , acting as a Vesicant and lung irritant, and can be used in combination as Mustard -lewisite. It can easily penetrate ordinary clothing and even rubber; upon skin contact it causes immediate pain and itching with a rash and swelling. Blisters develop after 12 hours, and discomfort lasts for 2 to 3 days. Sufficient absorption can cause systemic poisoning leading to liver Necrosis or death. Inhalation causes a burning pain, sneezing, coughing, vomiting, and possibly Lung Oedema . Ingestion results in severe pain, nausea, vomiting, and tissue damage. Generalised symptoms also include restlessnesss, weakness, subnormal temperature and low blood pressure. Lewisite is usually found as a mixture of Isomer s, 2-chlorovinylarsonous dichloride should predominate but often ''bis''(2-chloroethenyl)arsinous dichloride and ''tris''(2-chlorovinyl) arsine are present. Lewisite can be given any of the preceding names and is also sometimes described as 2-chlorovinyldichloroarsine, (2-chloroethenyl)arsinous dichloride or dichloro- (2-chlorovinyl) arsine. Its empirical formula is C2H2AsCl3 and can be represented as ClCHCHAsCl2. Its molecular mass is 207.32 g/mol, melting point −18 °C, boiling point 190 °C, at 20 °C its vapour pressure is 0.35 mm Hg (47 Pa) and its density is 1.89 g/cm³. Lewisite hydrolyses in water to form hydrochloric acid, and in contact with alkaline solutions can form poisonous trisodium arsenate. It is named after the US chemist and soldier Winford Lee Lewis (1878-1943). In 1918 he found the thesis of Julius Arthur Nieuwland at Maloney Hall , a chemical laboratory part of the Catholic University Of America , Washington, D.C. in which Nieuwland detailed the synthesis by the combination of Acetylene and Arsenic trichloride. It was developed into a secret weapon at Nilo Park, Ohio and given the name "the new G-34" to confuse its development with Mustard Gas . It was not used in the First World War, but experimented with in the 1920s as the "Dew of Death." After ), and declared obsolete in the 1950s. It is effectively treated with BAL, British Anti-Lewisite . Stockpiles of Lewisite were neutralized with bleach and dumped into the Gulf Of Mexico . |
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