OT - mustard gas (was RE: SC - Re: kraut brands)

[Decker, Terry D.]

The US has maintained stockpiles of mustard gas since WWI.  We have tons of
CBR weaponry sitting around in bunkers just waiting to leak all over the
landscape.

One of the common military practices was to bury containers of dangerous
materials to keep them from getting into the atmosphere.  Records were
either not kept or lost, so every so often somebody gets a nasty surprise
when they dig up and puncture a container that shouldn't be there.  About 8
years ago, 50 some acres of Tinker AFB was declared a superfund site, when
they uncovered toxic material buried in WWII.

Just casually looking at the chemical formulas without a clear idea of the
process, it looks like mustard gas is a cocktail of diphosgene and sulfuric
acid.

Bear

> margali wrote:
> > 
> > No, the source for mustard gas in WW 1 was not generally 
> horseradish. It
> > was phosgene. I know. I have been gassed 2ce doing cylinder 
> disposal at
> > Fort Drum, NY. When the war was over, they buried cylinders 
> of phosgene
> > in areas around the fort. Idiots! Pneumolavage is not a fun 
> and comfy
> > procedure, nor is spending months in hospitals regrowing 
> lung tissue.
> > margali
> 
> They disposed of German mustard gas in Fort Drum, NY?
> 
> Adamantius