Chemical weapons are a serious threat to the world and have the ability to wipe out entire cities, destroying everything in sight. Chemical weapons were first widely used in WWI. Just how many people were killed or injured in WWI due to chemical weapons? According to the Chemical Weapons Convention webpage, 1,400,000 people were affected by chemical weapons during WWI. The most serious casualties occurred in Russia where 475,000 people were injured and 56,000 people were killed ("CWC HomepageE. The threat of Chemical weapons is still among us today. Recently Saddam Hussein avoided weapon inspections by the United Nations. It has been discovered that Hussein had used chemical weapons during Desert Storm and may still have some.
             Chemical warfare can be used in more ways than one. The most common use of chemical warfare is through the use of gasses. These chemical gasses can be used in hand-to-hand combat where the gasses are stored in grenades and thrown or fired from a grenade launcher. To get a wider effect, the gasses can be sprayed from an airplane, similar to crop-dusting. Many times, bombs that contain nuclear chemicals or poisonous gasses are dropped on cities. Missiles have now been filled with nuclear warheads and biological toxins. The United StatesETomahawk missiles and Iraq's S.C.U.D. missiles are examples of this (Mitretek).
             Chemical weapons are made to attack a person's central nervous system. They attack the eyes, nose, throat, and skin. Most chemical agents are airborne. A common airborne chemical weapon used by the police in riot situations is tear gas. The tear gas is kept in grenades and irritates the eyes and lungs, causing violent coughing, blurry vision, and an inability to fight back. Another very common chemical weapon is mustard gas.
             The molecular formula for mustard gas is C4H8Cl2S (Mitretek). Mustard gas has no immediate effect but after approximately four hou...