Chemical Warfare and Medical Response During World War I

• Published in: American journal of public health (1971) Vol. 98; no. 4; pp. 611 - 625
• Main Author: Fitzgerald, Gerard J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC Am Public Health Assoc 01-04-2008; American Public Health Association
• Subjects: 20th century; Assassinations & assassination attempts; Biological & chemical weapons; Biological and medical sciences; Casualties; Chemistry; Chlorine; Civilians; Gases; Health hazards; Medical procedures; Medical sciences; Military aid; Military deployment; Military personnel; Miscellaneous; Physiology; Psychology; Public health; Public health. Hygiene; Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine; R&D; Research & development; Technological change; World War I; World; Human; Medicine; Chemical warfare agent; War; Public health
• ISSN: 0090-0036; 1541-0048
• DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2007.111930

The first large-scale use of a traditional weapon of mass destruction (chemical, biological, or nuclear) involved the successful deployment of chemical weapons during World War I (1914–1918). Historians now refer to the Great War as the chemist’s war because of the scientific and engineering mobilization efforts by the major belligerents. The development, production, and deployment of war gases such as chlorine, phosgene, and mustard created a new and complex public health threat that endangered not only soldiers and civilians on the battlefield but also chemical workers on the home front involved in the large-scale manufacturing processes. The story of chemical weapons research and development during that war provides useful insights for current public health practitioners faced with a possible chemical weapons attack against civilian or military populations.