I thought this was pretty surprising, although when I worked at a museum, the curator said she knew of someone who was exposed to WWI mustard gas from an old gas mask. Chinese worker dies from WWII gas Friday, August 22, 2003 Posted: 6:13 AM EDT (1013 GMT) More than half a century on, the gas still has a deadly effect. BEIJING, China (AP) -- A migrant worker became the first person to die from World War II-era mustard gas that escaped from five old barrels in northern China, sickening dozens, the government said Friday. Li Guizhen died Thursday night at a military hospital in the northern city of Qiqihar, more than two weeks after he and 33 others were exposed to the chemical weapon, the official Xinhua News Agency said. The barrels were abandoned by Japanese troops in China at the end of the war and were recently dug up. Photos of Chinese workers blistered by the gas fueled renewed criticism over Japan's wartime atrocities. Japan's occupation of China remains a sensitive spot for many Chinese, and even today Beijing often invokes Japan's brutality during World War II. Li bought the five barrels on Aug 4. to sell for recycling, Xinhua said. The gas, which was stored in liquid form in the barrels, spilled while Li was at a recycling center. It burned 95 percent of his body and sickened others nearby. "Medical personnel in the hospital have exerted their utmost to rescue him, using the best medicine available, but failed to respond because of the severe harm done to him by the deadly gas," Xinhua said. Mustard gas causes severe skin blistering and breathing difficulties. Exposure for as little as 10 minutes can cause death. Li's parents said they would donate his body to the hospital for research, Xinhua reported on its Web site, Xinhuanet. They have also submitted a petition to the Qiqihar government demanding Japanese compensation for Li's death, Xinhua said. Japan's Foreign Ministry issued a statement to express condolences to the victim and promised to continue efforts to clean up the dangerous leftovers from the war. "The government of Japan expresses its heartfelt condolences to the family of the victim who passed away," press secretary Hatsuhisa Takashima said in a statement. He said Japan will continue its efforts to dispose of the chemical weapons to prevent another such tragedy. He didn't say whether Japan was considering compensation for the victims.
Mustard and phosgene gas shells on the WW1 Western Front can still be quite lethal. Some years ago a French farmer and his son were both killed when their plough broke the casing of a gas shell. Unlike HE, I believe that these gases do not deteriorate with age.
