Medical Discovery News, July 25, 2009
This week's episode was about what is believed to be the first incidence of chemical warfare when Roman and Persian soldiers were battling in 256 A.D., in what is now Syria. The opposing forces each dug tunnels in order to surprise their enemies. "Archeologists now have evidence this battle was one of the earliest examples of chemical warfare. They found bitumen and sulfur crystals in the tunnels. Bitumen, which you know as tar or asphalt, is a black and oily byproduct of decomposed organic materials. When burned with sulfur, these two compounds would have set fire to the tunnels and produced a highly toxic mixture of gases including sulfur dioxide." Medical Discovery News, hosted by UTMB's Norbert Herzog and David Niesel, is broadcast by nearly 100 stations in the U.S. and Mexico, including at 10 a.m. on Saturdays on KUHF, 88.7 FM.