Reevaluating tear gas toxicity and safety

Brown, Jennifer; Lyons, Carey E.; Toddes, Carlee; Monko, Timothy; Tyshynsky, Roman

doi:10.1080/08958378.2021.1963887

Cited by 6 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 70 publications

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“…In contrast with the infants’ situation, older adults can often decide for themselves if their health situation requires attention or not. The specificity of the exposure and diagnoses make us feel confident that the observed increase was produced by tear gas exposure, limiting other possible explanations, in concordance with systematic reviews that had concluded that the use of this chemical is hard to control and unsafe for respiratory health in populations 3–5…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 73%

“…Open access of long-term respiratory effects with incidental exposures. [3][4][5] Two studies documented the effects of secondary exposure in adults; immediate and short-term reported symptoms included respiratory tract irritation, cough, shortness of breath and worsening symptoms of previous respiratory diseases. 6 7 After 8-10 months of follow-up, some cases presented with persistent complaints and aggravated asthma.…”

Section: Strengths and Limitations Of This Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The specificity of the exposure and diagnoses make us feel confident that the observed increase was produced by tear gas exposure, limiting other possible explanations, in concordance with systematic reviews that had concluded that the use of this chemical is hard to control and unsafe for respiratory health in populations. [3][4][5] Exposure misclassification is highly probable since we used a time proxy for tear gas assessment, resulting in the exposure measurement being the period in which the social uprising occurred, and this should have brought the effect towards the null value. However, significant results in the expected direction were found.…”

Section: Open Accessmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Aerosolised tear gas in protests does not discriminate targets because it is impossible to manage the reach of the gas cloud; therefore, it is usual to have bystanders exposed. Additionally, it is a challenge to have evidence of long-term respiratory effects with incidental exposures 3–5. Two studies documented the effects of secondary exposure in adults; immediate and short-term reported symptoms included respiratory tract irritation, cough, shortness of breath and worsening symptoms of previous respiratory diseases 6 7.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Tear gas exposure and its association with respiratory emergencies in infants and older adults during the social uprising of 2019 in Chile: an observational, longitudinal, repeated measures study

Cifuentes¹,

González²,

Ugarte-Avilés³

2023

BMJ Open

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ObjectiveTo evaluate if extensive use of tear gas during the Chilean social uprising of 2019 was associated with a higher frequency of respiratory emergencies and bronchial diseases in a residential vulnerable population.DesignObservational, longitudinal, repeated measures study.SettingsSix healthcare centres (one emergency department and five urgent care centres) in the city of Concepción, Chile during 2018 and 2019.ParticipantsThis study was conducted on daily respiratory emergencies and diagnosis. Daily frequency of urgency and emergency visits are administrative data, publicly available and previously de-identified.Primary and secondary outcome measuresAbsolute and relative frequency of daily respiratory emergencies in infants and older adults. A secondary outcome was the relative frequency of bronchial diseases (International Classification of Diseases 10th Revision, ICD-10: J20–J21; J40–J46) in both age groups. We finally measured the rate ratio (RR) of bronchial diseases above the daily grand mean, since the number of visits with these diagnoses in several days was zero. Tear gas exposure was assessed as the uprising period. Models were adjusted by weather and air pollution information.ResultsPercentage of respiratory emergencies during the uprising rose by 1.34 percentage points (95% CI 1.26 to 1.43) in infants and 1.44 percentage points (95% CI 1.34 to 1.55) in older adults. In infants, the emergency department experienced a larger increment in respiratory emergencies (6.89 percentage points; 95% CI 1.58 to 2.28) than the urgent care centres (1.67 percentage points; 95% CI 1.46 to 1.90). The RR of bronchial diseases above the daily grand mean during the uprising period was 1.34 in infants (95% CI 1.15 to 1.56) and 1.50 in older adults (95% CI 1.28 to 1.75).ConclusionsThe massive use of tear gas increases the frequency and probability of respiratory emergencies and particularly bronchial diseases in the vulnerable population; we recommend revising public policy to restrict its use.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 73%

Section: Strengths and Limitations Of This Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Open Accessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Tear gas exposure and its association with respiratory emergencies in infants and older adults during the social uprising of 2019 in Chile: an observational, longitudinal, repeated measures study

Cifuentes¹,

González²,

Ugarte-Avilés³

2023

BMJ Open

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“…Indeed, when inhaled, tear gas can cause various incapacitating respiratory symptoms, ranging from trouble breathing, coughing, salivating, and choking to vomiting and, at worst, to respiratory failure. These are often accompanied with various eye and skin symptoms, from tearing and temporary blindness to itching and chemical burns (Brown et al., 2021). Depending on spheric matters, such as the time and closeness of exposure, or openness of the exposed area, and various physiological features, such as pre-existing medical conditions, such atmospheric violence can lead to severe pain-impulses, involuntary processes on the glands, autonomous reflexes on muscles, and altered breathing patters, that together incapacitate the body to varying degrees (Bessac and Jordt, 2010).…”

Section: Weaponising Atmospheres: Pneumatological Proximitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Atmospheric negations: Weaponising breathing, attuning irreducible bodies

Joronen

2023

Environ Plan D

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This paper elaborates various ways in which atmospheric negations operate by weaponising bodily vulnerability to air. It shows, firstly, how bodies remain exposed to colonial proximities of respiratory, olfactory, and sonic violence with ways that are constituted through negating site- and body-spheres. It highlights these spheric materialities by discussing the use of tear gas and skunk water, bombing of chemical warehouses, and the sonic settler aggression in Palestine, further arguing that we need to pay more attention to the irreducibility of the body to such violent orchestrations of atmospheric. Here the irreducibility of the body and the incapacity of the spheric become key matters related to what is called, secondly, the reciprocal sphereological vulnerability between the corporeal and the spheric. By paying particular attention to difference between breathing and attunement, the paper shows how a negative limit condition resides at the heart of what constitutes sphere-dwelling. Here an ontological shift in thinking atmospheric is suggested, one that starts, not from current framings aligned around the notions of vitality, affirmation, and relationality, but from the weaponisation of the fundamental incapacity of the body to overcome its own vulnerability to the air it breathes.

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Rapid screening of riot control agents using DART-TD-HRMS

Mörén,

Östin,

Larsson

et al. 2024

Forensic Toxicol

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Purpose Riot Control Agents (RCAs) are chemicals used in law enforcement for non-lethal riot control and use in conflicts between states that violates the Chemical Weapons Convention. OPCW's Scientific Advisory Board has identified sixteen potential RCAs including capsaicinoids, CS, and CR. RCAs may be misused for criminal purposes, so methods for detecting such misuse are needed. This study therefore evaluates the feasibility of a rapid, high throughput screening method of RCAs on surfaces (particularly clothing surfaces) by Direct Analysis in Real Time with a thermal desorption unit coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry (DART-TD-HRMS). Methods A broadly applicable method for detecting potential RCAs was developed and tested on cotton fabric samples sprayed with self-defence sprays from an in-house reference stock. The feasibility of detecting RCAs by direct analysis of surface wipe samples placed in the DART source was also investigated. Results The method detected all sixteen RCAs and contaminated clothing were successfully screened for active agents in a reference collection of self-defence sprays. A pilot study also showed that RCAs can be detected by holding a sample directly in front of the DART source. Conclusion DART-TD-HRMS enables rapid and simple screening of RCAs on fabric samples enabling a high sample throughput.

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Reevaluating tear gas toxicity and safety

Cited by 6 publications

References 70 publications

Tear gas exposure and its association with respiratory emergencies in infants and older adults during the social uprising of 2019 in Chile: an observational, longitudinal, repeated measures study

Tear gas exposure and its association with respiratory emergencies in infants and older adults during the social uprising of 2019 in Chile: an observational, longitudinal, repeated measures study

Atmospheric negations: Weaponising breathing, attuning irreducible bodies

Rapid screening of riot control agents using DART-TD-HRMS

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