chloropicrin

Chemical weapon used during World War I. It is a lethal compound which attacks the lungs and acts as a lachrymator (tear gas).

It was first employed by Russia against the Germans August 1916 and subsequently used by all combatants. Also called ‘nitrochloroform’, it was used both in artillery and mortar projectiles and as a cloud gas. It penetrated gas-masks to cause nausea, vomiting, colic, and other ill-effects causing troops to remove their masks, and so leave them vulnerable to lethal concentrations of other gases, such as phosgene, fired simultaneously. In time, gas-masks were made impervious to it, and this, coupled with its persistence, which limited its tactical use, led to its eventual abandonment. The British also mixed it with chlorine as ‘Yellow Star’ gas, released from cylinders in cloud attacks.