| Green Cross gases are suffocating gases like chlorine, diphosgene, carbonyl chloride and phosgene, which target the lungs and cause death through pulmonary oedema. Green Cross gases are the most common and readily available of all the gases. They function as irritants only and can enter the body at its weak points. The gases would diffuse into the soft mucous membrane lining of the respiratory tract and attack the delicate lung tissues. The attacked cells would secret mucous to wash off the toxic material, but the gases are so potent that this reflex secretion would be over-stimulated. The outpouring of fluids can damage the lungs in two ways: first by the drowning effect created by the accumulation of excess fluids, and second the depletion of water from the cells. The irritant gases themselves subsequently cause chemical lesions to the cells and so the entire respiratory tract is fundamentally and often irreparably damaged. |