Mustard Gas

Mustard gas (bis(alpha-chloroethyl)sulfite) was one of several poisonous gases used during World War I. Case and Lea first suggested an association between mustard gas and lung carcinoma in a study of british soldiers after World Was I. In 1959, Yamada reported a definite relationship between industrial manufacture of mustard gas and the development of lung cancer in exposed workers. Approximately 50% of the cases were squamous cell carcinoma. The rates were found to be 16 times greater in exposed workers than in the central group.

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