title: Mustard gas or sulfur mustard: an old chemical agent as a new terrorist threat.
abstract: Sulfur mustard is a member of the vesicant class of chemical warfare agents that causes blistering to the skin and mucous membranes. There is no specific antidote, and treatment consists of systematically alleviating symptoms. Historically, sulfur mustard was used extensively in inter-governmental conflicts within the trenches of Belgium and France during World War I and during the Iran-Iraq conflict. Longitudinal studies of exposed victims show that sulfur mustard causes long-term effects leading to high morbidity. Given that only a small amount of sulfur mustard is necessary to potentially cause an enormous number of casualties, disaster-planning protocol necessitates the education and training of first-line healthcare responders in the recognition, decontamination, triage, and treatment of sulfur mustard-exposed victims in a large-scale scenario.
authors: Department of Emergency Medicine, University of California, Irvine, Orange, California, USA.
authors: Monica
authors: M
authors: Wattana
authors: Tareg
authors: T
authors: Bey
mesh_terms: D051337:Chemical Terrorism; D002619:Chemical Warfare Agents; D004189:Disaster Planning / Q000458:organization & administration*; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D009151:Mustard Gas / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000266:history
chemical_list: D002619:Chemical Warfare Agents; D009151:Mustard Gas