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Originally Posted by swaghauler
The toxin can persist for up to 3 days (compared to 4 to 6 hours for most modern blood and nerve agents).
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3 days is its persistence in the open in summer. In wooded areas in summer, its persistence was up to 7 days. Cool weather persistence is longer, up to
several weeks in cold wooded areas for WWI-era HS gas. It has a relatively high freezing point of 44-45 degrees Fahrenheit (7-8 Celsius), so frozen mustard could persist until thawed (including sticking to boots and then being warmed inside, thus gassing a shelter).
Standard treatment for skin was to wash the affected area with kerosene and then with soap and water; dichlordiethyl sulphide will dissolve in kerosene, gasoline, acetone, or alcohol. The downside was that this needed to be done within a few minutes or else the mustard would already have sufficiently penetrated the skin to still cause damage.
There were also anti-gas ointments. Ointment, anti-gas, No. 1 was 50% white petroleum jelly and 50% supertropical bleaching powder (30% bleaching powder) were also issued for trench use, but since they needed to be washed off after use to avoid skin irritation, they were somewhat questionable in effectiveness. Ointment No. 2 was Chloramine-T in a vanishing cream base that didn't need to be washed off but was a mild irritant.
Lethality was only around 2% for mustard; the 5% number was the permanent casualty rate for all gases, and phosgene was easily the most lethal overall. British records of all gas victims show 3% fatality, 2% permanent invalidity, and 70% physically fit for duty within 6 weeks, with chlorine having the longest average recovery time in hospital (60 days) and phosgene and mustard being shorter (45.5 and 46 days respectively). Fatalities dropped off as protective equipment improved, going from 4.5% in 1915-17 to 2.3% in 1918.
Lethality also widely varied by means of projection. Cloud gas started at 3.6% in late 1915 using chlorine and rose to 19.6% by August 1916 as chlorine was replaced by phosgene. It then fell off as protective equipment improved, as clouds were usually easy to observe in time to don protective gear. Gas shells only had around a 2.5% fatality rate because they had difficulty achieving sufficient density. They were more of a harassing weapon and a way of reducing effectiveness by forcing defenders to mask up. More lethal were the phosgene projectors (Livens or gaswerfer). Of their casualties, 18.2% were lethal from late 1917 to mid 1918. This was because they were relatively quiet and put a high concentration of gas in a small area quickly.
For overall effect, "General Description of War Gases" summarizes nicely:
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The main features of mustard gas vapour casualties may be briefly summarized as follows:
(a) An insidious onset, with a latent period of two to 48 hours according to the concentration of the gas and the duration of exposure.
(b) Injury to the eyes, varying from simple conjunctivitis of a temporary nature to a severe keratitis and grave secondary septic complications.
(c) Laryngitis, involvement of trachea and bronchi, and possibly necrosis of the mucous membrane leading to severe bronchitis or broncho-pneumonia.
(d) Early nausea or persistent vomiting, accompanied by epigastric pain.
(e) Erythema of the skin - early in the case of exposed areas or of hot, moist surfaces-which may proceed to vesication or excoriation, and may be followed by secondary septic infection.
(f) Slow healing of the blistered, devitalized areas and pigmentation of the ensuing scar.
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Neutralization of mustard was with 3% sodium sulfide (bleaching powder) in water, steam, or gaseous chlorine(!) to break down the chemical. It would be time-consuming but not impossible to clean contaminated coal.