{"id":40029,"date":"2020-06-06T10:00:40","date_gmt":"2020-06-06T17:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/?p=40029"},"modified":"2020-06-05T16:45:23","modified_gmt":"2020-06-05T23:45:23","slug":"everyday-erinyes-218","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.politicsplus.org\/blog\/2020\/06\/06\/everyday-erinyes-218\/","title":{"rendered":"Everyday Erinyes #218"},"content":{"rendered":"

Experts in autocracies have pointed out that it is, unfortunately, easy to slip into normalizing the tyrant, hence it is important to hang on to outrage. These incidents which seem to call for the efforts of the Greek Furies (Erinyes) to come and deal with them will, I hope, help with that. As a reminder, though no one really knows how many there were supposed to be, the three names we have are Alecto<\/span><\/strong>, Megaera<\/strong><\/span>, and Tisiphone<\/span><\/strong>. These roughly translate as “unceasing,” “grudging,” and “vengeful destruction.”<\/p>\r\n

The 1925 Geneva Protocol forbids the use of any asphyxiating gas or agent in warfare. Most of the world has signed it. The United States and Japan have not – one more step leading to what we now see: the use of tear gas in America against American Citizens. This is happening at a time when a pandemic is in full swing against the United States – a pandemic of a disease which most obviously affects respiration.<\/p>\r\n

As an officer candidate I was exposed to tear gas in a controlled environment as part of my training. I was healthy then – for a smoker – but it certainly was no walk in the park. But, as someone said recently somewhere, “‘For example’ is not proof.”
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Tear Gas Is Way More Dangerous Than Police Let On \u2014 Especially During the Coronavirus Pandemic<\/h3>\r\n

ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter<\/a> to receive stories like this one in your inbox<\/em>.<\/p>\r\n

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When Amira Chowdhury joined a protest in Philadelphia against police violence on Monday, she wore a mask to protect herself and others against the coronavirus. But when officers launched tear gas into the crowd, Chowdhury pulled off her mask as she gasped for air. \u201cI couldn\u2019t breathe,\u201d she said. \u201cI felt like I was choking to death.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Chowdhury was on a part of the Vine Street Expressway that ran underground. Everyone panicked as gas drifted into the dark, semi-enclosed space, she said. People stomped over her as they scrambled away. Bruised, she scaled a fence to escape. But the tear gas found her later that evening, inside her own house; as police unleashed it on protesters in her predominantly black neighborhood in West Philadelphia, it seeped in.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cI can\u2019t even be in my own house without escaping the violence of the state,\u201d said Chowdhury, a rising senior at the University of Pennsylvania. On Wednesday, she said her throat still felt dry, like it was clogged with ash.<\/p>\r\n

The Philadelphia protest was one of many instances in recent days in which police launched tear gas \u2014 a toxic substance that can cause lung damage \u2014 into crowds. In a statement<\/a>, Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said that officers had no choice but to release it after protesters threw rocks at them and refused to disperse, and that officers also used nonchemical white smoke to minimize the amount of the irritant \u201cwhile maintaining a deterrent visual effect.\u201d She called it \u201ca means to safely [defuse] a volatile and dangerous situation.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

But tear gas is not safe, according to a number of experts interviewed by ProPublica. It has been found to cause long-term health consequences and can hurt those who aren\u2019t the intended targets, including people inside their homes.<\/p>\r\n

This would be enough of a problem in normal times, but now, experts say, the widespread, sometimes indiscriminate use of tear gas on American civilians in the midst of a respiratory pandemic threatens to worsen the coronavirus, along with racial disparities in its spread and who dies from it.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cAs an immunologist, it scares me,\u201d said Dr. Purvi Parikh, an allergy and immunology doctor at NYU Langone Health. \u201cWe just got through a brutal two months, and I\u2019m really scared this will bring a second wave [of COVID-19] sooner.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

It puts black communities in an impossible situation, said Dr. Joseph Nwadiuko, an internist and researcher at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. Thirteen of the 15 coronavirus patients in the intensive care unit where he works are black, he said. \u201cI worry that one of the compounding effects of structural racism is you\u2019ll see a second wave of black patients, including those who were out there defending their lives.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

On Tuesday, an open letter<\/a> signed by nearly 1,300 medical and public health professionals urged the police to stop using \u201ctear gas, smoke, or other respiratory irritants, which could increase risk for COVID-19 by making the respiratory tract more susceptible to infection, exacerbating existing inflammation, and inducing coughing.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Here\u2019s what you need to know about tear gas and how it\u2019s being used by law enforcement in recent days.<\/p>\r\n

Tear gas can cause long-term harm, by making people more susceptible to contracting influenza, pneumonia and other illnesses.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

Tear gas is the generic term for a class of compounds that cause a burning sensation. Most law enforcement agencies in the U.S., including the Philadelphia Police Department this week, use a chemical called CS, short for 2-chlorobenzalmalononitrile.<\/p>\r\n

CS activates a specific pain receptor, one that\u2019s also triggered by eating wasabi, said Sven-Eric Jordt, a professor of anesthesiology at Duke University. But CS is much more powerful, up to 100,000 times stronger than the sting from wasabi, he said.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cThey are really pain nerve gases. They are designed to induce pain.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

CS is particularly painful when it gets on your skin or in your eyes. (Doctors have advised protesters<\/a> not to wear contact lenses.) When inhaled, the pain induces people to cough. The compound degrades the mucus membranes in your eyes, nose, mouth and lungs \u2014 the layers of cells that help protect people from viruses and bacteria.<\/p>\r\n

Scientists know little about how CS affects the general public. The most comprehensive studies were conducted<\/a> by the U.S. military on thousands of recruits who were exposed to tear gas during training exercises. Afterward, it left them at higher risk for contracting influenza, pneumonia, bronchitis and other respiratory illnesses.<\/p>\r\n

The soldiers were generally healthier than the average person, with fewer underlying conditions like asthma or heart disease. Studies of civilians<\/a> in Turkey found that people who are repeatedly exposed to tear gas are more likely to have chronic bronchitis or chest pains and coughing that can last for weeks. It may also be linked to miscarriages.<\/p>\r\n

The effects worsen as people are repeatedly exposed to higher doses, Jordt said, but it\u2019s hard to measure the concentrations of tear gas during chaotic protests, and many who are affected will be reluctant or afraid to seek medical help.<\/p>\r\n

Parikh, the Langone Health doctor, is particularly worried about children at the protests. Their lungs and immune system are still developing, and tear gas could lead to neurological problems or permanent skin or eye damage if it\u2019s not washed off quickly.<\/p>\r\n

According to<\/a> the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, severe tear gas poisoning, particularly if the gas was released in an enclosed space \u2014 can blind or kill people through chemical burns and respiratory failure. Prisoners with respiratory conditions have died after inhaling tear gas in poorly ventilated areas. On Wednesday, an inmate at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn died after<\/a> guards sprayed him with pepper spray, another kind of tear gas that causes similar health effects as CS.<\/p>\r\n

In a statement, the U.S. Department of Justice\u2019s Bureau of Prisons said the inmate, Jamel Floyd, was caught \u201cbreaking the cell door window with a metal object\u201d and \u201cbecame increasingly disruptive and potentially harmful to himself and others.\u201d Medical staff \u201cimmediately responded to assess the inmate, found Mr. Floyd to be unresponsive, and instantly initiated life-saving measures.\u201d An investigation is underway.<\/p>\r\n

Tear gas can increase the spread of the coronavirus and might make some people more vulnerable to catching it.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

It\u2019s too early to know exactly how tear gas affects coronavirus patients. But Parikh said they both cause lung inflammation. \u201cAnything that\u2019s an irritant can cause that same inflammatory response,\u201d she said. \u201cYour lungs can fill with mucus and it can be very difficult to breathe. The muscles narrow; it\u2019s almost like breathing through a straw.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

People with asthma and other respiratory illnesses already have higher baseline inflammation that makes them more susceptible to catching infections like the flu or the common cold, Parikh said, so tear gas could trigger an asthma attack or weaken the body\u2019s ability to stave off COVID-19.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cIf your lungs are already wheezing and coughing, working hard to expel this tear gas or this irritant, it\u2019s unable to have that reserve to fight off any infection, whether a virus or bacteria,\u201d she said.<\/p>\r\n

Talia Smith, a graduate student at the University of Nebraska, said it only took a whiff of tear gas to trigger an asthma attack when she was protesting in Omaha last Friday. She could barely feel it in her eyes, but her throat \u201cjust immediately started closing,\u201d she said. Smith had brought her inhaler, but the medication inside was running low. She\u2019d only had one asthma attack in her life before this. Smith had a burning feeling in her chest for days afterward, and she went to get tested for the coronavirus; the results are pending. She worries that if she catches the virus while still feeling the effects of the gas, she\u2019d be fighting off the disease while her lungs aren\u2019t at full capacity.<\/p>\r\n

Parikh said there\u2019s not enough data on asthma and the coronavirus in general. While asthmatics are at higher risk for all respiratory infections, asthma isn\u2019t among the top chronic conditions for the most severe coronavirus patients. \u201cWe are still seeing many asthmatics get it,\u201d so it\u2019s too soon to say there\u2019s no risk at all, she said.<\/p>\r\n

Tear gas weakens the demonstrators\u2019 protections against the coronavirus, said Dr. Abraar Karan, a physician at Harvard Medical School who\u2019s working on the coronavirus response. Infections increase when people cough or talk loudly, he said, and even if someone is wearing a mask, when they\u2019re hit with tear gas, they\u2019ll take off the mask as they\u2019re coughing. \u201cNot only are you vigorously coughing, you\u2019re vigorously inhaling to try and get more air in.\u201d Panic can cause a stampede, forcing people into close proximity as they\u2019re expelling large droplets from their mouths, he said, perfectly describing the situation that Chowdhury experienced on Monday.<\/p>\r\n

Karan said he\u2019s worried that protests could turn into superspreading events, yet he also understands why people feel they must be there. \u201cAt the same time, I\u2019m worried about my patients who\u2019ve been destroyed by systemic racism. So racism is killing them as much as a pandemic is.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

It will take at least another week before researchers can study whether the protests led to outbreaks. Even then, it will be hard to tell whether the infections were caused solely by the large gatherings or whether tear gas contributed to the increase.<\/p>\r\n

Protesters aren\u2019t the only people at risk. Tear gas is entering homes and businesses.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

Jordt said he was surprised by the sheer quantity of tear gas used by police in recent days, based on what he\u2019s seen in online videos and news clips. Instead of reserving it for the most extreme situations, \u201cit\u2019s more like fumigating and flushing people out,\u201d he said. \u201cTear gas has become a 1st line response, not a last resort,\u201d he added in an email.<\/p>\r\n

Because many protests are occurring in residential neighborhoods, tear gas is now seeping into homes. Parikh compared it to secondhand smoke. \u201cIt\u2019s a terrible situation,\u201d she said. \u201cTo be honest there\u2019s not much you can do.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Chowdhury, the UPenn student who participated in the Philadelphia protest, said she couldn\u2019t keep out the gas, even when she stuffed T-shirts and towels under the doors and windows. She could still smell it the next morning.<\/p>\r\n

If the gas gets indoors, people should wipe down their countertops and other surfaces with large amounts of water and soap, Jordt said. Any food that wasn\u2019t in a closed container could be contaminated and should be thrown out, and in extreme cases with large amounts of tear gas, residents and business owners may need to contact fire departments for recommendations of professional cleaning services, he added.<\/p>\r\n

Companies like Aftermath offer services for biohazard and infection control. Its website\u2019s section on<\/a> \u201ctear gas removal\u201d says the chemical \u201cleaves behind residue that can present serious health hazards if not properly treated. … Tear gas residue can seep into porous materials like furniture, mattresses, clothing, carpet and even hardwood floors, and continue to irritate the mucous membranes of anyone residing in or visiting the property long after the incident.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Police tactics and tools can make matters worse.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

There are many different forms of tear gas and many ways to use it, said Anna Feigenbaum, the author of a recent book on the history of tear gas and an associate professor of communication and digital media at Bournemouth University in England.<\/p>\r\n

Police can spray it from cans, shoot canisters or throw grenades. Manufacturers sell grenades<\/a> that produce light and noise as they expel tear gas and \u201ctriple-chaser\u201d canisters<\/a> that break into multiple pieces when they land so the gas can cover a larger area.<\/p>\r\n

The technology for deploying tear gas is advancing far more quickly than scientists\u2019 understanding of the impacts, Jordt said. \u201cWhile use of these [compounds] is escalating, there is a vacuum of research to back up the safety of high-level use.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Feigenbaum said the current situation is dangerous because law enforcement has used tear gas \u201cat close range, in enclosed spaces, in large quantities, fired directly at people, used [it] offensively as a weapon and in conjunction with rubber-coated bullets as a force multiplier.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Last weekend, a college student<\/a> in Indiana lost his eye when a tear gas canister hit his face.<\/p>\r\n

Tear gas is banned in international warfare<\/a>, but it is classified as a \u201criot control agent\u201d that law enforcement can use for crowd control. Yet instead of calming the situation, tear gas can sometimes \u201ccause counter aggression,\u201d Jordt said. \u201cIt just doesn\u2019t work well, and it hits the weakest people the most, and causes the most complications in them.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

One of the most controversial events occurred on Monday, when law enforcement in Washington, D.C., used tear gas on peaceful demonstrators to clear the way<\/a> so President Donald Trump could walk to a nearby church for a photo op. A statement from the U.S. Park Police said they used<\/a> \u201cpepper balls\u201d with an unspecified irritant powder and \u201csmoke canisters.\u201d (A reporter with WUSA9 tweeted photos<\/a> on Thursday of CS containers that he and his team said they found at the site.) The CDC uses<\/a> \u201ctear gas\u201d as the catch-all term for many \u201criot control\u201d compounds with similar effects.<\/p>\r\n

Monica Sanders, who lives across the river in Alexandria, Virginia, said she could see the smoke from her house, like something from a \u201cdystopian reality.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

A University of Delaware professor who specializes in disaster management, Sanders said she\u2019d thought about attending that protest but decided against it because her lungs were still weak from an earlier infection that might have been the coronavirus. Although she never got tested, Sanders said she came down with a respiratory illness in mid-February that almost sent her to the emergency room. She is a triathlete with no history of asthma. Last October, she swam a 5K race. Today, she can\u2019t even swim a mile.<\/p>\r\n

She said, \u201cThere are other ways to do crowd control that don\u2019t involve creating respiratory ailments during a pandemic, in a city that doesn\u2019t have enough [medical] supplies.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Maya Eliahou<\/a> and Caroline Chen<\/a> contributed reporting.<\/em><\/p>\r\n

Filed under:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

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