Abstract
On 12 July 1917, the Germans used, for the first time, at Ypres, Belgium, artillery shells loaded with 2,20dichlorodiethyl sulphide (sulphur mustard, HD). As many as 3000 soldiers were severely injured or killed. After this attack, the Allies, first France then Belgium, Italy, Greece and the United States, started to use HD (since then called yperit); in June 1918, 25% of French munitions consisted of shell loaded with HD. During World War II, the only damage caused by HD was reported to be linked to a German bombing over Bari, Italy. An American merchant navy boat containing 2000 shells was sunk. From 1983 to 1988, Iraq used HD during the Iran/Iraq war, inflicting heavy losses on the enemy. The compound 2,20dichlorodiethyl sulphide is a yellow liquid whose vesicant vapour is characterised by its mustard odour. It is a cytotoxic, mutagenic and carcinogenic agent. Those effects are caused by the alkylation of DNA [5–8]. Many biochemical, clinical and physiopathological studies have demonstrated the principal components of the chemical mechanism of the lesions induced by HD and its consequences [7–11]. The lungs and the skin are the main organs damaged. HD causes the destruction of the respiratory epithelium leading to acute oedema, inflammation and infection. The
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