[ExSoldier]

I did an article on the Japan incident. Gas mask would not have helped there. But the device used there was not well made and good dispersal was not achieved. There was also not enough of the agent to cause a really large body count. I think the body count was only about twelve IIRC.

Anthrax is a biological weapon not a chemical type. The sole portal of entry there is inhalation, so yes, any sort of mask would help.

The Bhopal incident was really an industrial accident of huge volumes of a corrosive gas. It wasn't designed to kill folks. Wet towels work there, they also work in a housefire to prevent death by smoke inhalation. The problem with Bhopal was that the wet towels protected the mouth and lungs, but they didn't protect the eyes. Contact with the fumes almost instantly destroyed the eyeballs and so the victims stumbled around until the fumes made their way into the lungs with fatal results. A mask would have obviously helped in that accident.

[bvw]

Is ricin considered chemical or biological? Can that be used as an aeresol effectively? Would a mask stop or reduce its effect?

And at the fringe of a sarin or VX attack wouldn't a mask reduce toxin loading?