Editing Lewisite (section)

==History==
[[File:"Lewisite, smells like geraniums" (OHA 365) National Museum of Health and Medicine (5405373716).jpg|thumb|Lewisite identification poster from [[World War II]]]]
Lewisite was synthesized in 1904 by [[Julius Nieuwland|Julius Arthur Nieuwland]] during studies for his PhD.<ref>{{cite thesis |first=Julius Arthur |last=Nieuwland |year=1904 |url=https://archive.org/details/somereactionsofa00nieurich |title=Some Reactions of Acetylene |degree=Ph.D. |publisher=University of Notre Dame |location=Notre Dame, Indiana}}</ref><ref name=Vilensky4 /><ref name=Vilenskykent>{{cite journal | last1 = Vilensky | first1 = J. A. | last2 = Redman | first2 = K. | title = British Anti-Lewisite (Dimercaprol): An Amazing History | journal = Annals of Emergency Medicine | year = 2003 | volume = 41 | issue = 3 | pages = 378–383 | pmid = 12605205 | doi = 10.1067/mem.2003.72 }}</ref> In his thesis, he described a reaction between acetylene and arsenic trichloride, which led to the formation of lewisite.<ref>{{cite book|last=Vilensky |first=J. |title=Father Nieuwland and the 'Dew of Death'}}</ref>{{fcn|reason=date? publisher? journal (if applicable)?|date=February 2025}} Exposure to the resulting compound made Nieuwland so ill he was hospitalized for several days.<ref name=Vilensky4>{{cite book | title = Dew of Death – The Story of Lewisite, America's World War I Weapon of Mass Destruction | last = Vilensky | first = J. A. | year = 2005 | publisher = Indiana University Press | isbn = 0253346126 | page = 4 }}</ref>

Lewisite is named after the US chemist and soldier [[Winford Lee Lewis]] (1878–1943).<ref name="Deadly">{{cite news|url=https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn85034007/1919-05-29/ed-1/seq-7/|title=Deadliest Poison Discovered By An American|newspaper=Early County News|via=Georgia Historic Newspapers|page=7|date=May 29, 1919|access-date=July 30, 2020}}</ref> In 1918, John Griffin, Julius Arthur Nieuwland's thesis advisor, drew Lewis's attention to Nieuwland's thesis at [[Maloney Hall]], then a chemical laboratory at [[The Catholic University of America]], [[Washington D.C.]]<ref name=Vilensky21>{{cite book | title = Dew of Death – The Story of Lewisite, America's World War I Weapon of Mass Destruction | last = Vilensky | first = J. A. | year = 2005 | publisher = Indiana University Press | isbn = 0253346126 | pages = 21–23 }}</ref> Lewis then attempted to purify the compound by distillation but found that the mixture exploded on heating until it was washed with hydrochloric acid.<ref name=Vilensky21 />

Lewisite was developed into a secret weapon at a facility located in [[Cleveland]], [[Ohio]] (The Cleveland Plant) at East 131st Street and Taft Avenue,<ref name="Deadly" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-171083917.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071218182614/http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-171083917.html|url-status=dead|title=Upton native's role was the best defense; WWI masks thwarted|archivedate=December 18, 2007}}</ref> and given the name "G-34", which had previously been the code for mustard gas, in order to confuse its development with mustard gas.<ref>{{cite book |first=Joel A. |last=Vilensky |title=Dew of Death: The Story of Lewisite, America's World War I Weapon of Mass Destruction |location=Bloomington, Indiana |publisher=Indiana University Press |year=2005 |page=36}}</ref> On November 1, 1918, production began at a plant in [[Willoughby, Ohio]].<ref name=Vilensky50>{{cite book | title = Dew of Death – The Story of Lewisite, America's World War I Weapon of Mass Destruction | last = Vilensky | first = J. A. | year = 2005 | publisher = Indiana University Press | isbn = 0253346126 | page = 50 }}</ref>
It was not used in [[World War I]], but Britain experimented with it in the 1920s as the "Dew of Death".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Tabangcura |first1=D. Jr. |last2=Daubert |first2=G. P. | url = http://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/motm/bal/development.html | title = British anti-Lewisite Development | work = Molecule of the Month | publisher = University of Bristol School of Chemistry }}</ref>

After World War I, the US became interested in lewisite because it was not flammable. Up until [[World War II]], it had the military symbol of "M1", after which it was changed to "L". Field trials with lewisite during World War II demonstrated that casualty concentrations were not achievable under high humidity, due to the rate of hydrolysis and the characteristic odor of the chemical, and the formation of tears forced troops to don masks and avoid contaminated areas.{{Citation needed|date=November 2011}} The United States produced about 20,000 tons of lewisite, keeping it on hand primarily as an [[antifreeze]] for mustard gas, or to penetrate protective clothing in special situations.

Lewisite was replaced by the mustard gas variant HT (a 60:40 mixture of sulfur mustard and [[O-Mustard]]), and was declared obsolete in the 1950s. Lewisite poisoning can be treated effectively with British anti-lewisite (dimercaprol). Most stockpiles of lewisite were neutralised with [[bleach]] and dumped into the [[Gulf of Mexico]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://library.thinkquest.org/05aug/00639/en/w_chemical_blister.html |website=Code Red: Weapons of Mass Destruction |title=Blister Agents |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081207213041/http://library.thinkquest.org/05aug/00639/en/w_chemical_blister.html |archive-date=2008-12-07}}</ref> The last remaining U.S. stockpiles at the [[Deseret Chemical Depot]] located outside [[Salt Lake City]], Utah were destroyed in January 2012.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Moulton |first1=Kristen |title=Commander: World is safer with chemical stockpile gone |url=http://www.sltrib.com:80/sltrib/news/53326399-78/chemical-depot-army-weapons.html.csp |access-date=25 January 2024 |work=The Salt Lake Tribune |date=2012-01-18}}</ref>

Production of quantities greater than 100 grams per year per facility were banned by [[List of Schedule 1 substances (CWC)|Schedule 1]] of the 1993 [[Chemical Weapons Convention]]. When the convention entered force in 1997, the parties declared world-wide stockpiles of 6,747 tonnes. By the end of 2015, 98% of the declared stockpiles had been destroyed.<ref>{{cite report | author = Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons | date = 30 November 2016 | title = Report of the OPCW on the Implementation of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction in 2015 | chapter-url = https://www.opcw.org/documents-reports/annual-reports/ | chapter = Annex 3 | page = 42 | access-date = 8 March 2017}}</ref>

In 2001, lewisite was found in a World War I weapons dump in Washington, D.C.<ref>{{ cite journal | url = http://www.environet.eu/pub/pubwis/rura/20070112111114.pdf | last = Tucker |first=J. B. | title = Chemical weapons: Buried in the backyard | journal = Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists | year = 2001 | volume = 57 | issue = 5 | pages = 51–56 | doi = 10.2968/057005014 }}</ref>

In July 2023 a spokesman of the [[Armed Forces of Ukraine]] claimed that during the [[battle of Bakhmut]] a Russian artillery attack against Ukrainian forces had included lewisite, causing symptoms of nausea, vomiting and in some cases loss of consciousness.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.kyivpost.com/post/19108 |title= Russia Using Chemical Weapon During Bakhmut Artillery Bombardments, Ukrainian Official Claims |website= [[Kyiv Post]] |first1= Steve |last1= Brown |first2= Stefan |last2= Korshak |date= 2023-07-05 |access-date= 2023-07-05}}</ref> However, no information from any sample analysis was published.