WW's chemical weapon makes no scientific sense

Oh no...did a movie take liberties with actual facts. Heaven forbid. Next thing you'll tell me is that her lasso can't actually make people tell the truth. Say it ain't so.

Nah.

Does it bother you that spider man's webs don't shoot out of his ass? 

The common gass mask during (post 1916) World War I was the French made M2 Small Box Respirator. The mask was made of cloth treated with baking soda and had cellulose lenses set in metal recepticals that were attached to the mask with twine. Whatever chemical weapon that Dr. Poision created was hydrogen based with the ability to create an endothermic reaction (i.e. heat) that would shrink the cloth mask to the point whet the cellulose lenses would crack under stress. That doesn't seem impossible since simple hot water can cause most textiles to shrink in a matter of hours. The gas probably was a mixture of chemicals that would break down the treatment to the cloth, cause it to shrink, and then poison the wearer - ultimately burning them in flames.