Gas mask
|
Belgian 1930's era L.702 model civilian mask |
A
gas mask, is a
mask worn on the face to protect the body from airborne
pollutants and
toxic materials. The mask forms a sealed cover over the nose and mouth, but may also cover the eyes and other vulnerable soft tissues of the face. Some gas masks are also
respirators, though 'gas mask' is often used to refer to military equipment (e.g. Field Protective Mask, etc.)
Airborne toxic materials may be gaseous (for example the
chlorine used in
WWI) or particulate (such as many
biological agents developed for weapons such as bacteria, viruses and
toxins). Many gas masks include protection from both types. Unlike other breathing devices, gas masks do not require the user to carry an air supply as in the use of
scuba gear. However, this means that the wearer depends on the air in the atmosphere, the same medium of the toxic materials. Thus, the mask must remove them and relay clean air to the wearer.
There are three main ways of achieving this:
filtration,
absorption and adsorption, and
reaction and exchange.
Absorption is the process of being drawn into a (usually larger) body, or substrate, and
adsorption is the process of deposition upon a surface. This can be used to remove both particulate and gaseous hazards. Although some form of
reaction may take place, it is not necessary; the method may work by attractive
charges (for example, if the target particles are positively charged, use a negatively charged substrate). Examples of substrates include
activated carbon, and
zeolites. This effect can be very simple and highly effective, for example using a damp cloth to cover the mouth and nose whilst escaping a fire. Most of the harmful vapours and
smoke will be dissolved in the
water on the cloth, giving you vital extra seconds to escape.
This principle relies upon the fact that substances that can do harm to humans are usually more reactive than air. This method of separation will use some form of generally reactive substance (for example an
acid) coating or supported by some solid material. An excellent example is
resins. These can be created with different groups of
atoms (usually called functional groups) that exhibit different properties. Thus a resin can be tailored to a particular toxic group. When the reactive substance comes in contact with the resin, it will bond to it, removing it from the air stream. It may also exchange with a more harmless substance at this site.
There are two main difficulties with gas-mask design:
*The user may be exposed to many different types of toxic material. Military personnel are especially prone to being exposed to a diverse range of toxic gases. However if the mask is for a particular use (such as the protection from a specific toxic material in a factory), then the design can be much simpler and the cost lower.
*The protection will wear off over time. Filters will clog up, substrates for absorption will fill up, and reactive filters will run out of reactive substance. This means that the user only has protection for so long, and then they must either replace the filter device in the mask, or use a new mask.
Contrary to some modern day opinion, there is no single inventor of the "gas mask". In fact, there were
patents for such devices as early as
1887. A first gas mask to be used by miners was introduced by
Alexander von Humboldt already in
1799, when he worked as a mining engineer in Prussia.
|
Early gas mask designed by A. von Humboldt in 1799 for underground mining |
In the early days of World War I, the Canadian Army made field expedient gas masks to protect themselves from the deadly chlorine gas used by the Germans by urinating on rags and holding them to their faces.
One such design began as a "Safety Hood and Smoke Protector" invented by
African American inventor,
Garrett A. 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. Morgan won acclaim for his device when in
1916 he, his brother, and two other volunteers used his device to rescue numerous men from the gas and smoke-filled tunnels beneath
Lake Erie in the
Cleveland Waterworks.
Due to the run on raw materials during the war, businesses were in increasing competition to find alternates to any material needed for milatary use. In this case the cotton used in the gas masks, one such solution was the forerunner of
Kleenex, called Cellucotton.
Dr. Cluny MacPherson of
The Royal Newfoundland Regiment, while serving in
Gallipoliin
1915, where he acted as an advisor on poisonous gas, used a helmet taken from a captured prisoner to fashion a canvas hood with transparent eyepieces that was treated with chlorine-absorbing chemicals.
Gas masks 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, where agents that cause harm through contact or penetration of the skin occurs, 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 contact from the atmosphere. For reasons of civil defense and personal protection, individuals often purchase gas masks in the belief that they prevent against the harmful effects of an attack with nuclear, biological, or chemical (NBC) agents; this is not the case, as gas masks protect only against respiratory absorption. Whilst most military gas masks are designed to be capable of protection against spectrum of NBC agents, they can be coupled with filter canisters that are proof against those agents (heavier) or just against
riot control agents and smoke (lighter, and often used for training purposes); likewise there are lightweight masks solely for use in riot control agents and not for NBC situations.
Although thorough training and the availability of gas masks and other protective equipment can render the casualty-causing effects of an attack by chemical agents nullified, troops who are forced to operate in full protective gear are less efficient in completing their given tasks, tire easily, and may be affected psychologically by the threat of attack by these weapons. During the
Cold War era, it was seen as inevitable that there would be a constant NBC threat on the battlefield, and thus troops needed protection in which they could remain fully functional; thus protective gear, and especially gas masks have evolved to incorporate welcomed innovations in terms of increasing user-comfort, and in compatibility with other equipment (from drinking devices to artificial respiration tubes, to communications systems etc). The gas mask has thus now arrived at a 'fourth generation' of development.
The
1940s comic book hero
the Sandman wore a gas mask as part of his first costume, not only to protect himself from the sleeping gas he used on criminals, but also to inspire fear in them.
Sid Wilson, DJ for the band
Slipknot (which comprises nine masked members) wears a variety of different types on stage. The Canadian indie rock group
Broken Social Scene also utilized a gas mask in their video for "Cause=Time". Another well-known musician who has used a gas mask as an instrument is vocalist
Mike Patton, who sings through the mask for an eery muffled effect. Although Patton is the most prolific wearer of gas masks amongst bands, numerous others have worn them for publicity shots etc, and Jason Miller, singer for
Godhead, uses an Israeli civilian type to filter his voice.
|
Kaizers Orchestra with a gas mask. |
The Norwegian ompa/gypsy-rock band
Kaizers Orchestra are famous for using unique objects on stage, including oil barrels, crowbars and miscellaneous objects to with which to create sounds, and a
World War II Norwegian model gas mask.
The unsettling appearance of the gas mask was also featured in the
2005 Doctor Who episodes
The Empty Child and
The Doctor Dances, in which an
alien infestation of wrongly-programmed "
nanogenes" in
1941 London transformed people by turning them into gas-masked
zombies.
In the video game
Metal Gear Solid, a boss called
Psycho Mantis wears a gas mask.
The logo for
Pandemic Studios incorperates a gas mask.
Also, in the games
Resident Evil 2, Resident Evil 3: Nemesis and
Resident Evil 4, there is a character,
HUNK, a Special Ops agent, who almost always wore a gas mask.
During the end of the first episode of
Martin Mystery, Diana Lombard wears a respirator while massaging Java's smelly foot.
The 2004 film
Dead Man's Shoes by British director
Shane Meadows, portrays Paddy Considine's character "Richard" in a gas mask, A semi-psychotic ex-soldier who goes out to seek revenge for his brothers forced suicide.
The Icelandic Experimental Group Morbid Chid feature the singer GasMask Man who always hides his face with a gas mask. He is also in bands like Kuraka and has guest starred with other bands through out the years.
In the
dystopian novel
The Sheep Look Up by John Brunner, the toxicated air makes it necessary for people to wear gas masks.
The band
Senses Fail, a punk/screamo band from New Jersey has been know to wear gas masks, most recently on their album Let it Unfold You (re-release).
John Dolmayan, drummer of the band
System of a Down, wears a gas mask in their music video for Sugar.
Sexual fetish
Some people
fetishize gas masks. One possibility is that gas masks are for them part of a wider
rubber fetishism, or that the dehumanized appearance of a person wearing a gas mask leads to
erotic objectification fantasies.
The movie
Gods and Monsters featured a scene of gas mask fetishism possibly implying, within the fictionalised events, a relationship between director
James Whale's sexuality and trauma experienced in
World War I. The scene is in the movie is because the director liked the photo that was popular at the time of a naked man wearing only a gas mask.
In the television show
Malcolm in the Middle Lois and Hal both went into a house wearing gas masks and were presumed to have
sex.
Rubberists like to wear gas masks because they are made of soft latex rubber and also because they are strapped onto the face. Gas mask
sexual fetish is often, but not always combined with the use of other sexual
latex devices, such as latex suits, rubber gloves and boots.
*
Le Masque à Gaz International historical gas mask gallery, with collection of safety and propaganda posters.
