injuries poisoning
Incendiary Chemical Warfare Agents and Hydrogen Fluoride (HF)
Introduction
Military incendiary agents are designed to illuminate the battlefield, to start fires, to create smoke to obscure terrain and personnel, or for combinations of these effects. Agents include thickened gasoline (napalm), thermite (TH), white phosphorus (WP), and magnesium. They have physical effects (eg, burns) rather than the primarily chemical effects of Overview of Chemical-Warfare Agents . Hydrofluoric acid (HF), used in industry and in other applications, is often confused with hydrochloric acid; for this reason, it is recommended that it be referred to as HF. Any of these compounds can create mass casualties. Napalm has a jelly-like consistency; the other incendiary agents are usually weaponized as powdered solids. HF can exist at ambient temperatures as a liquid or a vapor. The most common routes of exposure are percutaneous, ocular, and inhalational. 