Damascus residents complain of chemical smell Many Damascus residents complained on Friday of nausea and severe headache due to a strong chemical odour, explained by a dissident officer as arsenic that could be leaking from government warplanes. A resident from the Damascus area of Mezza, under the control of government forces said: “Around 4 am on Friday there was a strange chemical smell.” The young man, who refused to disclose his identity, described the smell as “odd, like the smell of burning electrical appliances, noting that “the smell seeped into the house despite all windows and doors being shut.”
The Mezza resident said he immediately got a headache and began to feel ill.
Meanwhile an activist from one of  the Damascus rebel- controlled areas said he thought the smell of chemicals came from nearby shelling, explaining that warplanes attacked several Damascus suburbs on Thursday.
However a rebel officer explained to Arab today that the smell similar to burning electrical appliances must be that of H2-type arsenic used in fighter jets.
The officer pointed out that when the chemical substance begins to smell like burning electrical supplies it means it has lost more than 80 percent of its effectiveness, pointing out that this substance loses its effect within 15 to 20 minutes.
He explained that these smells spread in the area near to Mezza military airport, military warplanes were attacking rebel-held areas, adding that the odours were not dangerous.
\"Inhaling a large amount of this substance causes nausea and severe headache, but these symptoms are not serious, and will disappear after a short amount of time. I would advise people to put on masks or a cloth dampened with water on the nose as well as keeping doors and windows tightly shut,” he said.