A 2014 study of the American army also discovered that tear gas exposure and pepper spray make people vulnerable to respiratory infections In the week following the exposure compared to the week before the exhibition. The recruits of the Army exposed to CS tear gas only once during the basic training had a much higher probability of developing respiratory diseases such as viral diseases such as influence, pneumonia or bronchitis. That study and others brought the American Thorancic Society in 2020 to ask for a moratorium on the use of tear gas and other chemical agents during the protests of racial justice. A concern was that their use could increase the chances of getting sick with Covid-19.
“Science used to justify the use of tear gas is obsolete,” says Sven-Eric Jordt, associate professor of anesthesiology, pharmacology and biology of cancer at the Duke University School of Medicine who helped to authorize the recommendations of the American Thoracic Society.
Much of the research on the health effects of exposure to tear gas and other chemical agents is based on military research conducted in the 1950s, 60s and 70s on young and healthy men. He says that those studies do not face potential health effects on a wider civil population. Furthermore, they do not take into account the most advanced launch technologies developed in recent years that allow the distribution of much higher quantities of tear gas at longer distances.
In some cases, the effects of these agents are not due to the chemicals themselves. “People can be injured when they are in contact with the containers used to disperse gas and this can include blunt trauma or burnt injuries,” says Calello. In Los Angeles, federal agents According to reports, hard plastic pepper spheres shotAlso known as pepper spray bullets at protesters.
The lesions can also occur from rubber bullets with the blunt tip. Their name is a little misleading, says Rohini Haar, an emergency doctor and medical consultant at Medician for Human Rights, considering that many rubber bullets are actually made of hard plastic or foam and some even have a metal nucleus.
“They are no less lethal if they are used lethally,” says Haar, who is also contract professor of epidemiology at UC Berkeley. “There are many, many cases of them that cause death, and there are also many traumas that can be caused, even if they do not penetrate the skin.” The greatest concern comes if these bullets hit the neck or face, in particular the eyes. There have been cases of rubber bullets that cause blindness, traumatic brain lesions and defacement and less seriously, bones broken in other areas of the body.
A Studio 2017 Of Haar and his colleagues found that about 3 % of people affected by rubber bullets died due to the resulting lesion, while 15 percent of the 1,984 people studied were wounded permanently. A Analysis 2020 Issued by doctors for human rights and co -author from Haar discovered that at least 115 people suffered head injuries when the police fired them with rubber and plastic bullets during the first two months of the US protests in response to the killing of the George Floyd police.
In 2020, the American Academy of Ophthalmology invited national law enforcement agencies to Ends the use of rubber bullets and similar bullets to control or disperse crazy demonstrators.
If you are exposed to tear gas or pepper spray, experts advise you to escape as quickly as possible, find higher ground and cover the mouth and nose. When possible, remove contaminated clothing and wash with abundant quantities of soap and water. If you live serious symptoms, immediately consult medical treatment.
If you intend to participate in a protest, consider wearing closed shoes and long sleeves. Eyes protection and face masks can also help reduce exposure.