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White Phosphorus
White phosphorus is the waxy translucent pale-yellowish allotrop
of phosphorus.
It is extremely inflammable in air, spontaneous combusting
when exposed to the atmosphere. As it burns it produces a dense
white smoke consisting of phosphorus pentpoxide and phosophoric
acid.
Properties of White Phsorphorus ( 36) |
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Chemical warfare symbol
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WP
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Nickname
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Willy Peter
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Chemical Formula
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P4
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Specific Gravity
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1.82 @ 20 C
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Melting Point
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44.1 C
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Boiling Point
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280 C
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Becuase of this dense, highly obscuring smoke,
it found early military use in making smoke screens. The
screening smokes could be made by using a generator, gernade
or mortar.(36) |
 (39) |
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Later on it was used in antipersonal gernades.
It was found that the WP would stick to what ever it came
into contact with and would continue to burn with an intense
heat. The burns caused by WP were extremely painful. The
following is a description of thoes burns from eMedicine
- "The resultant burn typically appears as a necrotic
area with a yellowish color and characteristic garliclike
odor. White phosphorus is highly lipid soluble and as
such, is believed to have rapid dermal penetration once
particles are embedded under the skin. Because of its
enhanced lipid solubility, many have believed that these
injuries result in delayed wound healing. This has not
been well studied; therefore, all that can be stated is
that white phosphorus burns represent a small subsegment
of chemical burns, all of which typically result in delayed
wound healing."( 40) |
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