Editing Blood agent (section)

== List of blood agents ==

The information in the following table, which lists blood agents of military significance,<ref name="Ledgard 72">Ledgard, [https://books.google.com/books?id=atU4GuKE8x0C&pg=PA72 72].</ref> is taken from Ledgard.<ref>{{cite book|last=Ledgard|first=Jared|title=A Laboratory History of Chemical Warfare Agents|publisher=Lulu|date=2006|pages=79 et seq|isbn=978-1-4116-9432-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=atU4GuKE8x0C&pg=PA79}}</ref> The values given are on a scale from 1 to 10.
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Agent
! Description
! Melting / boiling point
! Effectiveness as blood agent
! Persistence, open area
! Persistence, enclosed area
! Field stability
! Storage stability
! Toxicity as blood agent
|-
| [[Hydrogen cyanide]]
| Colorless gas or liquid, almond odor, burns with a bluish flame.
| −13 / 26&nbsp;°C
| 10
| 2
| 9
| 10
| 8
| 10
|-
| [[Cyanogen]]
| Colorless gas, almond odor, burns with a pinkish flame having a blue border.
| −28 / −21&nbsp;°C
| 9
| 2
| 9
| 8
| 7
| 9
|-
| [[Cyanogen chloride]]
| Colorless gas or liquid, pungent and biting odor, soluble in water and alcohol.
| −6 / 14&nbsp;°C
| 8
| 3
| 9
| 9
| 9
| 8
|-
| [[Cyanogen bromide]]
| Colorless needle-shaped or cubic crystals, tending to volatilize on standing, hence of limited usefulness as a weapon.
| 52 / 62&nbsp;°C
| 9
| 5
| 8
| 5
| 6
| 8
|-
| [[Arsine]]
| Colorless gas, garlic-like odor, slightly soluble in water.
| −117 / −62&nbsp;°C
| 9
| 3
| 8
| 5
| 9
| 9
|-
| [[Vinyl arsine]]
| Colorless liquid, irritating and bitter odor, slightly soluble in water, also acts as a [[blister agent]].
| 124&nbsp;°C (boiling)
| 7
| 7
| 9
| 8
| 9
| 6
|-
| [[Phosgene]]
| Colorless gas and slightly yellow liquid, moldy hay odor, slightly soluble in water and soluble in most solvents, also acts as a [[choking agent]].
| −118 / 8
| 10
| 6
| 9
| 5
| 8
| 6
|}

[[Sodium cyanide]] and [[potassium cyanide]], colorless crystalline compounds similar in appearance to sugar, also act as blood agents.<ref name="Walsh 151" /> [[Carbon monoxide]] could technically be called a blood agent because it binds with oxygen-carrying hemoglobin in the blood (see [[carbon monoxide poisoning]]), but its high volatility makes it impractical as a chemical warfare agent.<ref>{{cite book|last=Croddy|first=Eric|title=Chemical and biological warfare: a comprehensive survey for the concerned citizen|publisher=Springer|date=2002|isbn=978-0-387-95076-1|page=108|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MQMGhInCvlgC&pg=PA108}}</ref>

One of the earliest proposed chemical weapons, [[cacodyl oxide]], or [[Cadet's fuming liquid]], also displays properties of a blood agent (as well as those of a malodorant). It was proposed as a chemical weapon in [[the British Empire]] during the [[Crimean War]], along with the significantly more potent blood agent, [[cacodyl cyanide]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Romano|first=James A.|title=Chemical Warfare Agents: Chemistry, Pharmacology, Toxicology, and Therapeutics|publisher=CRC Press|date=2007|isbn=9781420046625|page=4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MGcnAIu4vyIC}}</ref>