What tear gas and rubber bullets do for the human body

A study conducted by the US military in 2014 found that exposure to tear gas and pepper spray Make people vulnerable to respiratory infections The following week is exposure compared to the week before exposure. Army recruits exposed to tear gas only had only once during basic training a much higher possibility to develop respiratory diseases such as viral diseases such as influenza, pneumonia or bronchitis. In 2020, the study and others led the American Sadr Association to call for a cessation of tear gas and other chemical factors during ethnic justice protests. One of the anxiety was that its use could increase the chances of the disease with Covid-19.

“The science used to justify the use of tear gas,” says Sven-Eric Geordet, Associate Professor of Anesthetics, Pharmacology, and Biology at Duke University.

Many research on the health effects of tear gas and other chemical factors are based on military research conducted in the fifties, sixties and seventies of the last century on healthy youth. He says that these studies do not deal with possible health effects on the wider civilian population. It also does not take into account the most advanced launch techniques that have been developed in recent years that allow the deployment of higher amounts of tear gas at longer distances.

In some cases, the effects of these factors are not due to the same chemicals. “People can be infected when they are in contact with the cans used to disperse the gas, and this may include severe injuries or burning injuries,” says Callow. In Los Angeles, federal agents According to the solid plastic pepper ballsAlso known as pepper spray projectiles, in the demonstrators.

Injuries can also occur from acute rubber bullets. Rohini Har, an emergency doctor and medical consultant in doctors for human rights, says that their name is somewhat misleading

“They are not less deadly if they are used in a dark manner,” says Har, who is also an assistant professor of epidemics at the University of California at Berkeley. “There are many cases that cause death, and there are also a lot of shocks that can occur, even if it does not penetrate the skin.” The biggest concern comes if these projectiles are struck neck or face, especially eyes. There were rubber bullets that cause blindness, painful brain injury, distortion, and less serious, broken bones in other areas of the body.

A 2017 study Har and her colleagues found that about 3 percent of people who were struck by rubber bullets died due to the resulting injury, while 15 percent of 1984 were permanently injured. A 2020 analysis Doctors for human rights and participated in his authored by Har that at least 115 people suffered from head injuries when law enforcement officers shot them with rubber and plastic shot during the first two months of the United States in response to the killing of the police of George Floyd.

In 2020, the American Academy of Ophthalmology called on local law enforcement officials to Ending of the use of rubber lead And shells similar to controlling or dispersing crowds of demonstrators.

If you are subjected to tear gas or pepper spray, experts recommend escaping as quickly as possible, finding a higher land, covering your mouth and tin. When possible, remove polluted clothes and wash in abundant quantities of soap and water. If she suffers from severe symptoms, ask medical attention immediately.

If you are planning to attend the protest, consider wearing closed shoes and long sleeves. Eye protection and N95 face masks can also help reduce exposure.