Editing Gas mask (section)

==History and development==
===Early breathing devices===
According to ''[[Popular Mechanics]]'', "The common sponge was used in [[ancient Greece]] as a gas mask..."<ref>"''[https://books.google.com/books?id=0uMDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA163-IA2 Popular Mechanics]''". January 1984. p. 163</ref> In 1785, [[Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier]] invented a [[respirator]].

Primitive respirator examples were used by [[miner]]s and introduced by [[Alexander von Humboldt]] in 1799, when he worked as a mining engineer in [[Prussia]].<ref>{{Cite book | first=Alexander | last=Von Humboldt | year=1799 | title=Ueber die unterirdischen Gasarten und die Mittel, ihren Nachtheil zu vermindern: Ein Beytrag zur Physik der praktischen Bergbaukunde | publisher=Braunschweig, Friedrich Vieweg | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LW1oAAAAcAAJ}}</ref> The forerunner to the modern gas mask was invented in 1847 by [[Lewis P. Haslett]], a device that contained elements that allowed breathing through a nose and mouthpiece, inhalation of air through a bulb-shaped filter, and a vent to exhale air back into the atmosphere.<ref>{{cite web|title=The invention of the gas mask|publisher=Ian Taggart|url=http://www33.brinkster.com/iiiii/gasmask/page.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130502145330/http://www33.brinkster.com/iiiii/gasmask/page.html|archive-date=May 2, 2013}}</ref> ''First Facts'' states that a "gas mask resembling the modern type" was patented by Lewis Phectic Haslett of [[Louisville, Kentucky]], who received a patent on June 12, 1849.<ref name="disu">{{cite book |editor1-last=Su|editor1-first=Di |title=Evolution in Reference and Information Services: The Impact of the Internet |last1=Drobnicki|first1=John A.|last2=Asaro|first2=Richard|chapter=Historical Fabrications on the Internet |publisher=Haworth Information Press|location=Binghamton, New York |year=2001 |page= 144|isbn= 978-0-7890-1723-9 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IvqbuSm4sHYC&q=gas+mask+patent+1849&pg=PA144}}</ref> U.S. patent #6,529<ref>{{Cite patent|title=Lung Protector|inventor-first=Lewis P.|inventor-last=Haslett|gdate=1849-06-12|country=US|number=6529A|inventorlink=Lewis_Haslett}}</ref> issued to Haslett, described the first "Inhaler or Lung Protector" that filtered dust from the air.

Early versions were constructed by the Scottish chemist John Stenhouse in 1854<ref name="Benson2010">{{cite book|author=Alvin K. Benson|title=Inventors and inventions|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JqVZAAAAYAAJ|year=2010|publisher=Salem Press|isbn=978-1-58765-526-5}}</ref> and the physicist John Tyndall in the 1870s.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Environment and Its Effect Upon Man: Symposium Held at Harvard School of Public Health, August 24-August 29, 1936, as Part of Harvard University Tercentenary Celebration, 1636-1936|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WYsaAAAAMAAJ|year=1937|publisher=Harvard School of Public Health}}</ref> Another early design was the "Safety Hood and Smoke Protector" invented by [[Garrett Morgan]] in 1912, and patented in 1914. It was a simple device consisting of a cotton hood with two hoses which hung down to the floor, allowing the wearer to breathe the safer air found there. In addition, moist sponges were inserted at the end of the hoses in order to better filter the air.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Gates |first1=Henry Louis Jr. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3dXw6gR2GgkC |title=African American Lives |last2=Higginbotham |first2=Evelyn Brooks |date=April 29, 2004 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780199882861 |language=en |quote=}}</ref><ref name="pbs.org/wgbh/theymadeamerica2">{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/theymadeamerica/whomade/morgan_hi.html|title=Garrett Augustus Morgan|quote=He sold the hoods to the U.S. Navy, and the Army used them in World War I.|work=PBS Who Made America?}}</ref>

===World War I=== <!-- Excerpted in Respirator#History -->
[[Image:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-R52907, Mannschaft mit Gasmasken am Fla-MG.jpg|thumb|German soldiers with gas masks, 1916]]
The First World War brought about the first need for mass-produced gas masks on both sides because of [[Chemical weapons in World War I|extensive use of chemical weapons]]. The German army successfully used [[chemical weapon|poison gas]] for the first time against Allied troops at the [[Second Battle of Ypres]], Belgium on April 22, 1915.<ref>{{Cite web |title=First Usage of Poison Gas |url=https://www.theworldwar.org/learn/about-wwi/spotlight-first-usage-poison-gas |access-date=2024-08-18 |website=National WWI Museum and Memorial |language=en}}</ref> An immediate response was cotton wool wrapped in muslin, issued to the troops by May 1. This was followed by the [[Black Veil Respirator]], invented by [[John Scott Haldane]], which was a cotton pad soaked in an absorbent solution which was secured over the mouth using black cotton veiling.{{sfn|Wetherell|Mathers|2007|p=157}}

Seeking to improve on the Black Veil respirator, [[Cluny Macpherson (physician)|Cluny Macpherson]] created a mask made of chemical-absorbing fabric which fitted over the entire head: a {{cvt|50.5 x 48|cm|in}} canvas hood treated with chlorine-absorbing chemicals, and fitted with a transparent mica eyepiece.<ref name="Lefebure">{{cite book | url = https://archive.org/details/riddleofrhineche00lefe | title = The Riddle of the Rhine: Chemical Strategy in Peace and War | year=1999 |orig-date=1923 | publisher=University of Virginia Library (originally The Chemical Foundation Inc.) | author = Victor Lefebure | isbn = 0-585-23269-5 | url-access = registration }}</ref><ref name=rooms>{{cite web |url= http://www.rnr.therooms.ca/part3_a_soldiers_outfit.asp |title= Macpherson Gas Hood . Accession #980.222  |publisher=The Rooms Provincial Museum Archives (St. John's, NL) |access-date=August 5, 2017}}</ref> Macpherson presented his idea to the British War Office Anti-Gas Department on May 10, 1915; prototypes were developed soon after.{{sfn|Mayer-Maguire|Baker|2015}} The design was adopted by the British Army and introduced as the [[British Smoke Hood]] in June 1915; Macpherson was appointed to the War Office Committee for Protection against Poisonous Gases.<ref name="RCS">{{Cite web |url=https://livesonline.rcseng.ac.uk/biogs/E005916b.htm |title=Biographical entry Macpherson, Cluny (1879 - 1966)  |website=livesonline.rcseng.ac.uk |access-date=April 22, 2018}}</ref> More elaborate [[sorbent]] compounds were added later to further iterations of his helmet ([[PH helmet]]), to defeat other respiratory poison gases used such as [[phosgene]], [[diphosgene]] and [[chloropicrin]]. In summer and autumn 1915, [[Edward Harrison (chemist)|Edward Harrison]], Bertram Lambert and John Sadd developed the Large Box Respirator.<ref name="gasmasknet">{{cite web|url-status = dead|archive-date=2008-07-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080709101905/http://www.gasmasks.net/database/uk/uk.htm|url = http://www.gasmasks.net/database/uk/uk.htm | title = The UK | work = The Gas Mask Database }}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable ([[WP:NOTRS]]).|date=July 2024}} This canister gas mask had a tin can containing the absorbent materials by a hose and began to be issued in February 1916. A compact version, the [[Small Box Respirator]], was made a universal issue from August 1916.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}}

In the first gas masks of World War I, it was initially found that wood charcoal was a good absorbent of poison gases. Around 1918, it was found that charcoals made from the shells and seeds of various fruits and nuts such as [[coconut]]s, [[chestnut]]s, [[horse-chestnut]]s, and [[peach]] stones performed much better than wood [[charcoal]]. These waste materials were collected from the public in recycling programs to assist the war effort.<ref>''Once Worthless Things that have Suddenly Become of Value'', [[Popular Science]] monthly, December 1918, page 80, scanned by [https://books.google.com/books?id=EikDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA80 Google Books]</ref>

The first effective filtering [[activated charcoal]] gas mask in the world was invented in 1915 by Russian chemist [[Nikolay Zelinsky]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Kozhevnikov|first=A B|title=Stalin's great science: the times and adventures of Soviet physicists|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l1Ha_opwB68C|access-date=April 28, 2009|edition=illustrated, reprint|year=2004|publisher=Imperial College Press|isbn= 978-1-86094-419-2|pages=10–11}}</ref>

[[File:BunkArt-Horse-Gas-Mask.jpg|thumb|Gas mask for horses|alt=]]
[[Image:Soldaty 267 Duhovshinskogo polka.jpg|thumb|1916, Russian soldiers]]
Also in World War I, since dogs were frequently used on the front lines, a special type of gas mask was developed that dogs were trained to wear.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=EikDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA75 "Gas-Masks for Dogs / Dumb Heroes of the Fighting Front"], ''[[Popular Science]]'' monthly, December 1918, page 75, Scanned by Google Books</ref> Other gas masks were developed during World War I and the time following for horses in the various mounted units that operated near the front lines.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=LeADAAAAMBAJ&dq=Popular+Science+1930+plane+%22Popular+Mechanics%22&pg=PA75 "Gas Masks to Guard Horses and Dogs in War"] ''Popular Mechanics'', July 1934, bottom pg. 75</ref> In America, thousands of gas masks were produced for American as well as Allied troops. [[Mine Safety Appliances]] was a chief producer. This mask was later used widely in industry.<ref name="ReferenceA">Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, November 30, 1960</ref>

===World War II===
[[File:Air Raid Precautions on the British Home Front- Anti-gas Instruction, c 1941 D3948.jpg|thumbnail|right|A British couple wearing gas masks in their home in 1941]]
{{anchor|WWII gas mask}}
The British Respirator, Anti-Gas (Light) was developed in 1943 by the British.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/30016346|title = Respirator, Anti-Gas (Light) MKII: With Haversack Carrier & contents}}</ref> It was made of plastic and rubber-like material that greatly reduced the weight and bulk compared to World War I gas masks, and fitted the user's face more snugly and comfortably. The main improvement was replacing the separate filter canister connected with a hose by an easily replaceable filter canister screwed on the side of the gas mask. Also, it had replaceable plastic lenses.{{Citation needed|date=April 2023}}

=== Modern mask ===
Gas mask development since has mirrored the development of chemical agents in warfare, filling the need to protect against ever more deadly threats, biological weapons, and radioactive dust in the nuclear era. However, for agents that cause harm through contact or penetration of the skin, such as [[blister agent]] or [[nerve agent]], a gas mask alone is not sufficient protection, and full protective clothing must be worn in addition to protect from contact with the atmosphere. For reasons of civil defence and personal protection, individuals often buy gas masks since they believe that they protect against the harmful effects of an attack with nuclear, biological, or chemical ([[chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear|NBC]]) agents, which is only partially true, as gas masks protect only against respiratory absorption. Most military gas masks are designed to be capable of protecting against all NBC agents, but they can have filter canisters proof against those agents (heavier) or only against [[riot control agent]]s and smoke (lighter and often used for training purposes). There are lightweight masks solely for protection against riot-control agents and not for NBC situations.{{citation needed|date=March 2017}}

Although thorough training and the availability of gas masks and other protective equipment can nullify the casualty-causing effects of an attack by chemical agents, troops who are forced to operate in full protective gear are less efficient in completing tasks, tire easily, and may be affected psychologically by the threat of attack by those weapons. During the [[Cold War]], it was seen as inevitable that there would be a constant NBC threat on the battlefield and so troops needed protection in which they could remain fully functional; thus, protective gear and especially gas masks have evolved to incorporate innovations in terms of increasing user comfort and compatibility with other equipment (from drinking devices to artificial respiration tubes, to communications systems etc.).

[[File:Chemical weapon1.jpg|thumb|Iranian soldier wearing a US M17 protective mask on the frontline of the [[Iran–Iraq War]]]]
During the [[Iran–Iraq War]] (1980–88), Iraq developed [[Iraqi chemical weapons program|its chemical weapons program]] with the help of European countries such as Germany and France<ref>{{Cite web|title=Iraqi Scientist Reports on German, Other Help for Iraq Chemical Weapons Program|url=https://fas.org/nuke/guide/iraq/cw/az120103.html|access-date=2021-06-28|website=fas.org}}</ref> and used them in a large scale against Iranians and Iraqi Kurds. Iran was unprepared for chemical warfare. In 1984, Iran received gas masks from the [[Republic of Korea]] and [[East Germany]], but the Korean masks were not suited for the faces of non-[[East Asian people]], the filter lasted for only 15 minutes, and the 5,000 masks bought from East Germany proved to be not gas masks but spray-painting goggles. As late as 1986, Iranian diplomats still travelled in Europe to buy [[active charcoal]] and models of filters to produce defensive gear domestically. In April 1988, Iran started domestic production of gas masks by the Iran Yasa factories.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://cns.miis.edu/archive/cns/programs/dc/briefs/030701.htm |title=Iranian Use of Chemical Weapons: A Critical Analysis of Past Allegations |last=Zanders |first=Jean Pascal |date=March 7, 2001 |website=CNS Briefings |publisher=James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies |access-date=March 27, 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150320222016/http://cns.miis.edu/archive/cns/programs/dc/briefs/030701.htm |archive-date=March 20, 2015 }}</ref>

[[File:Viktor Billa Oborona pionerov.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Pioneer movement|Pioneers]] in gas masks. [[USSR]], 1937]]