Druga gimnazija Sarajevo

International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme

Chemistry

ESSAY

Gas Masks in War

Word count: 1612

Student: Teacher:

Faruk Ibrahimović Stanislava Marjanović

How do gas masks work?.............................................................................................................................. 3

Benefits................................................................................................................................................................ 4

Limitations.......................................................................................................................................................... 4

Conclusion........................................................................................................................................................... 6

Bibliography....................................................................................................................................................... 7

WWW Pages................................................................................................................................................. 7

Government Publications........................................................................................................................ 7

Magazines...................................................................................................................................................... 8

1
Introduction

Ever since the dawn of mankind, war has been a constant. Many incredible

inventions, which save lives every day, were a biproduct of war research. Furthermore,

chemical warfare is defined as the use of chemical weapons in war. As WWI came, so did

inhaled poisonous gases, such as xylyl bromide (tear gas), phosgene and chlorine 1.These

gases range from harmful to deadly. For example, tear gas, when inhaled in smaller

doses causes irritation to the eyes and uncontrollable crying and blindness when

inhaled in larger doses. Phosgene, which was essentially colourless and odourless

would cause build-up of liquids in the lungs causing death. In addition to the gruelling

pace of trench warfare, soldiers also had to endure these chemical weapons making

them very effective in warfare their use would later be prohibited via conventions such

as the Geneva Conventions. Chlorine however, stands out as initial ways to combat it led

to the topic of this essay. Chlorine, usually reacts with the water in the lungs making

hydrochloric acid2. How soldiers would combat chlorine was by placing water-soaked

and even urine-soaked rags over the mouth, filtering out the chlorine in the air and

neutralising its effects.

The essence of the gas mask lies therein. Throughout the first world war, prototype gas

masks were made and eventually fined tuned to those which we have today. They can

serve as a useful tool in some cases but can also be clunky and hard to use. It is

important to make a clear distinction between the types of gas masks that exist. The

first type is the half-mask or air-purifying respirators, which do not fully cover the face,

leaving the eyes susceptible to contact3. Other than these, we have full-face respirators

which provide a clear face mask or eye piece that protect the eyes as well. In addition,
1
“Gas in the Great War.” <https://www.kumc.edu/school-of-medicine/academics/departments/history-and-
philosophy-of-medicine/archives/wwi/essays/medicine/gas-in-the-great-war.html> (1 Mar. 2023)
2
ibid
3
"How Gas Masks Work" <https://science.howstuffworks.com/gas-mask1.htm> (1 Mar. 2023)

2
there are gas masks which firefighters use which come with an air supply. In this essay,

when I say gas masks, I refer to full-face respirators as it is important to note that in war

times, full-face respirators were used mostly. This begs the question, are gas masks

worth researching and implementing in wars? This will be discussed from the social

factor.

How do gas masks work?

Gas masks are masks which cover your mouth, nose and eyes in most cases with

some sort of filter cartridge to filter the harmful substances from the air that gets

breathed in, and the air that goes out, goes through the exhalation valve. So, how does

this filter work? The process takes advantage of the fact that harmful substances are

usually more reactive than air. The filters are usually made out of a material with pores

of various sizes and high surface such as activated carbon, which is made by heating it at

high temperatures in the presence of gas or chemical, creating small pores and

increasing its surface area4. When these kinds of materials are used in gas mask filets,

the gas or vapor molecules are attracted to the carbon’s surface because of the Van Der

Waals force, in essence creating a weak chemical bond between the material and the

vapor/gas5. Van Der Waals forces are weak electrostatic forces that attract neutral

molecules to another. The higher the surface area of the filter, the more likely a particle

is going to be close to the surface of the filter, and so Van Der Waals force is strong

enough to keep the particle in place. This process is known generally as adsorption and

traps the harmful substance in the filter, disallowing it from reaching the lungs.

4
United States. United States Environmental Protection Agency. Remedial Technology Fact Sheet – Activated Carbon-
Based Technology for In Situ Remediation. April 2018
5
ibid

3
Benefits

The most obvious benefit of gas masks is that they allow fore greater

mobilization of soldiers. In cases where chemical weapons are used, soldiers physically

cannot enter the warzone without dying and gas masks allow for soldiers to do so. In

addition, the development of gas masks for war purposes also improves the situation

for civilian use of gas masks. This allows for greater civilian safety in war times when

the air can possibly be contaminated or when a building is on fire, gas masks serve a

great purpose in allowing for people to breathe as it is extremely hard to breathe when

there is smoke everywhere. Furthermore, during WWI it was found that materials like

wood charcoal, charcoals made from the shells and seeds of various fruits and nuts

performed as a good filter for poisonous gases. This allows for better utilization of

resources, especially in war times when it is much needed in addition to the fact that

recycling of materials is always welcomed 6. All in all, there are many benefits to gas

masks.

Limitations

The first limitation of using gas masks in the military is that it does not protect

from nerve agents. Nerve agents are chemicals that interfere with the nervous system, a

few of them are sarin, soman, tabun and VX 7. There have been examples of terrorist

agents using these nerve agent agents such as the one in Tokyo in 1995 8. These nerve

agents are chemicals which target the nervous system and can be absorbed through the

respiratory system but they can also enter through skin, so when wearing only a gas

mask you are not shielded from nerve agents.

6
Once Worthless Things that have Suddenly Become of Value, Popular Science monthly, December 1918, page 80,
scanned by Google Books
7
“NERVE AGENTS” <https://www.vdh.virginia.gov/emergency-preparedness/public-preparedness-guidance/
chemical-agents/nerve-agents/> (5 Mar. 2022)
8
ibid

4
 Secondly, gas masks come with a few drawbacks to physical ability. It is harder to

breathe through the filter as the air that you breathe in needs to go through a filter so

airflow is partially blocked. Airflow is especially important in high-risk scenarios in

which you might need to use gas masks because of the fact that the more air you have,

the more stamina you will have. Furthermore, wearing a gas mask partially blocks your

vision and also blurs it, which is not something that is optimal in a dire situation.

Moreover, gas masks have some weight to them and having weight on the head can put

strain on the neck. Overall, gas masks limit physical mobility and vision.

What’s more, when one wears a gas mask, CO2 intake is increased to levels which

can be potentially dangerous9, as too much CO2 in the lungs can cause symptoms from

headaches and fatigue to respiratory failure and seizures. This is due to the fact that a

part of the CO2 you breathe in is trapped in between the wearer’s face and the filter and

so it gets re-inhaled.

Moreover, the filter that is used in the gas mask saturates over time because of

the fact that the trapped gas molecules build up and eventually, the filter lets more

harmful molecules because it is so saturated (usually the period is around six months).

So that is another drawback of gas masks.

And lastly, having in mind that the research of gas masks in wars only promotes a

greater loss of lives as wars continue and war technology gets more advanced, from the

social factor this is not the best thing as the general welfare of people is not improved

by wars.

9
Popova, Anna, ed. (2018). "Substance #2138 Carbon dioxide". Hygienic standard 2.2.5.3532-18.Occupational
exposure limits for toxic substances in workplace air [ГН 2.2.5.3532-18 Предельно допустимые концентрации
(ПДК) вредных веществ в воздухе рабочей зоны] (in Russian). Moscow: Federal Service for Surveillance on
Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing. p. 170.

5
Conclusion

Overall, gas masks are a very useful tool and have many benefits such as an

increase in potential manpower which can free more people from oppressive

governments and potential civilian uses as well as the filters being able to be replaced

with things that are almost freely available which can improve war situations. On the

other hand, gas masks alone do not protect against nerve agents are pretty clunky so

they reduce the mobility of the wearer in addition to the fact that there are some health

concerns to prolonged use of gas masks. Moreover, the filters of the gas masks need to

be replaced often.

To answer the research question, from the social factor I do not think it is worth

it to research and use gas masks in war. Generally, spending on military technology only

promotes war which is one of the world’s most prominent factors of lowering quality of

life. This reasons outweighs all the potential benefits not related to war, especially so

because at the current stage of gas mask development, there is no need for any major

advancements which a lot of military research can bring.

As to how one could fix some limitations of the gas mask, generally a filter lasts

for up to 6 months so as long as you keep track of how long a gas mask is used for you

will be safe if you remember to replace the filter, which is not too expensive. When it

comes to the issue of nerve agents, one could fix the possible blind spots by wearing full

body rubber suits that protect one from the nerve agent, which is common place in

many places one might need to use a gas mask. This option is more expensive and

clumsier than just a gas mask but it fixes the issue. Regarding the CO 2 issue, it is

something inherent to the design of the gas mask so there is no real easy fix other than

not wearing a gas mask for too long.

6
Bibliography

WWW Pages

“Gas in the Great War.”

<https://www.kumc.edu/school-of-medicine/academics/departments/history-

and-philosophy-of-medicine/archives/wwi/essays/medicine/gas-in-the-great-

war.html> (1 Mar. 2023)

"How Gas Masks Work"

<https://science.howstuffworks.com/gas-mask1.htm> (1 Mar. 2023)

“NERVE AGENTS”

<https://www.vdh.virginia.gov/emergency-preparedness/public-preparedness-

guidance/chemical-agents/nerve-agents/> (5 Mar. 2022)

Government Publications

United States. United States Environmental Protection Agency. Remedial Technology

Fact Sheet

Activated Carbon- Based Technology for In Situ Remediation. April 2018

Popova, Anna, ed. (2018).

"Substance #2138 Carbon dioxide". Hygienic standard 2.2.5.3532-

18.Occupational exposure limits for toxic substances in workplace air [ГН

2.2.5.3532-18 Предельно допустимые концентрации (ПДК) вредных

веществ в воздухе рабочей зоны] (in Russian). Moscow: Federal Service for

Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing. p. 170.

7
Magazines

Once Worthless Things that have Suddenly Become of Value,

Popular Science monthly, December 1918, page 80, scanned by Google Books