What’s Actually In the Tear Gas Being Used in Egypt? [Teargas]

The tear gas grenades being used to quell protestors in Egypt are actually made here inside the USA. They’re intended to cause ” tearing of the eyes” and ” irritation of respiratory tract and mucous membranes” . What’s throughout the tear gas?

Ars Technica took a seriously look into a number of the tear gas canisters, which can be made by Combined Tactical Systems in Jamestown, Pennsylvania, and found that the grenades and canisters are ” largely choked with a fuel mixture that burns to disperse the tearing agent.” One grenade, the Model 5220 CN Smoke Grenade, has a starter mixture of potassium nitrate, silicon, and charcoal that’s used to light CN smoke (a kind of tear gas):

The CN smoke is 71 percent fuel, made from potassium chlorate, magnesium carbonate, nitrocellulose, and… sucrose. The alternative 29 percent of the smoke is the tearing agent, chloroacetophenone, which has been around for just about a century and causes severe irritation of the mucous membranes.

That’s plenty of stinky stuff and yep, the tear gas lists itself as having a ” pungent odor” , which one protestor can attest to. He told ABC, ” Your eyes tear up a good deal so you could’t see, and you are feeling like you’re suffocating. You’ll be able to breathe but you are feeling like you’re suffocating so you are trying to run, but whenever you run you inhale more.” [ Ars Technica ]

Image Credit: The Atlantic

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This post is tagged: chloroacetophenone, combined tactical systems, jamestown pennsylvania, potassium chlorate, potassium nitrate, respiratory tract