General Information
Lewisite was discovered near the end of World War I by a team of Americans headed by Capt. W. Lee Lewis working at Catholic University in Washington DC.1,2 Lewisite was never used because of the armistice; a shipload of Lewisite-filled munitions was crossing the Atlantic at the cessation of hostilities.2 In an interesting footnote, the Germans had been searching for a non-persistent vesicant in early 1918, but rejected Lewisite in favor of ethyldichloroarsine.3 Production took place in the United States, Great Britain, France, Italy, the Soviet Union, and Japan in the immediate post war years.4 During World War II, the American, British, Soviet, German, and Japanese armies had considerable stocks of Lewisite available.4,5 Following World War II, Lewisite was considered obsolete by the major powers because of the discovery that 2,3-dimercaptopropanol ("British anti-Lewisite") was an inexpensive and effective antidote to Lewisite exposure.6 However, it may have been used recently by the Iraqis in addition to mustard agent.7 Industrially-produced Lewisite has a strong penetrating geranium odor; the pure compound is odorless.