Gas masks of various designs have been widely used for about two centuries: they are necessary for specialists when carrying out harmful work in various industries, as well as for military personnel and civilians who, under certain circumstances, find themselves in places with gas hazardous to health. Regardless of the design features, all gas masks serve one purpose - they prevent the threat of poisoning.
The history of the creation of a gas mask
Until now, there is no consensus about who exactly should be considered the inventor of the gas mask, because the prototypes of this device were known back in the Middle Ages. During the plague epidemic, doctors used masks with long beaks. These beaks were filled with medicinal herbs. Medieval doctors believed that such masks prevented infection.
The world's first gas mask, according to historians, was created in 1847 by the American inventor Lewis Haslett. This device, unique at that time, was intended to prevent unwanted inhalation: a felt filter trapped harmful substances, allowing a person to breathe without harming his body. The gas mask, invented by Haslett, allowed breathing consistently through the mouth or through the nose when a person was in a place where there were harmful impurities in the air.
In the future, inventors around the world have worked to improve filters to create more effective gas masks that have proven to be indispensable under certain circumstances. In most cases, they were used to filter dust and other small particles to prevent them from entering the respiratory system. However, such gas masks could not protect the human body from the negative effects of gaseous toxins.
The first modern gas mask was invented in 1912 by a black American, Garrett Morgan. The device was designed to protect engineers and firefighters forced to work in a toxic environment. In 1914, the German inventor Alexander Drager patented his gas mask design in America.
Zelinsky's invention
In 1915, the Russian scientist Nikolai Dmitrievich Zelinsky developed the first filtering coal gas mask, which was adopted by the Entente troops in 1916. For the first time in history, activated carbon was used as the main sorbent material.
The first order for the gas masks developed by Zelinsky in the amount of 200 thousand pieces was made under pressure from the General Staff in the spring of 1916. However, in large batches, the coal gas mask began to be produced in Russia only when Zelinsky's invention was implemented in Germany and England. And even after such a belated recognition, the Russian scientist was not paid a dime for his invention.
