It is still not known who invented the gas mask. There is no consensus on this issue. Their primitive prototypes were used as early as the Middle Ages, when doctors used special masks with long noses. Medicinal herbs were placed in them. Doctors believed that this could protect them from the plague and other epidemics. More seriously, the creation of a gas mask was undertaken in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It was connected not with medicine, but with military affairs.
Briefly about gas masks
Before you know who invented the gas mask, you should clarify what it is. This product protects the respiratory system, as well as the eyes and skin.
There are two types:
- Filtering - protects against certain toxic substances. The wearer breathes air from the environment that passes through the filter.
- Isolating - provideshuman air from a tank filled with a limited amount of oxygen.
The invention of gas masks was associated with the emergence of a new type of weapon - poisonous gas. It is quite difficult to determine in which year the gas mask was invented, since different scientists around the world were working on this device at the same time.
Invented by Lewis Haslett
Who invented the gas mask? In terms of chronology, the first device that belongs to modern gas masks was invented in 1847. Its author was the American Lewis Haslett.
A patent was granted for an invention called "Lung Protector". It included a block and a felt filter. The block was equipped with valves to inhale and exhale. It could be attached to the mouth or nose.
However, during the First World War, a more reliable means of protecting soldiers was required. When the Germans began to carry out gas attacks, scientists began work on improving the existing gas mask.
Who invented the filter gas mask for World War I soldiers?
Invention of Nikolai Zelinsky
In Russian troops, during a gas attack, soldiers protected their respiratory organs with a gauze bandage soaked in a special agent. There was no benefit from such protection. An effective means of protection was required.
Russian chemist Zelinsky decided to use coal as a filter. As a result of experiments, he came to the conclusion that birch wood absorbs toxic substances best of all.coal that has been heat treated.
Zelinsky's idea was brought to life by engineer Kummant. He made a rubber mask that fits snugly to the face. Air entered the respiratory tract through the filter element. The device was created in a few months. The first batch of gas masks was sent to the army in 1916. In total, during the war, about eleven million gas masks were made for the Entente army.
However, Haslett and Zelinsky were not the only ones who invented the gas mask. They were among those who worked on the universal problem. It was to protect the respiratory organs from smoke or toxic fumes.
Gas masks of other inventors
There is information about inventions in other regions long before the advent of Zelinsky's device and even Haslett.
Examples of inventions:
- In 1871, Irish physicist John Tundalls created a respirator that protected the respiratory system from smoke and toxic fumes that are released during a fire.
- In 1891, Bernhard Lobs created a respirator that consisted of a metal container. It was divided into three chambers.
- In 1901, a respirator appeared that completely covered the head. The air passed through a carbon-based filter.
- In 1912, Garrett Morgan created a device to protect firefighters and engineers who had to work in an environment with a high concentration of toxic substances. Originally an inventor from the USA.
- Another design of a gas mask in the USA was presented by the inventor Alexander Drager,who was from Germany. He patented his device in 1914.
It's hard to say in which country the gas mask was invented. It was created both in the USA and in Russia. However, the Zelinsky apparatus became the most common during the First World War. It was implemented not only in Russia, but also in England and Germany. The device was recognized all over the world, but the Russian scientist did not earn anything from it.
