What do we know about the long-term effects of tear gas exposure?
At this time, there are no long-term studies published monitoring long-term outcomes in tear-gas-exposed individuals and groups. But our research shows that tear-gas exposures cause severe inflammation that can take weeks to resolve, and also chemical burns to the skin.
Do you know why there aren’t yet any long-term studies?
The issue is it’s usually a small number of people who are exposed and affected. It would require a massive effort to follow these exposure victims over years or decades.
But there are now efforts under way by
doctors in Turkey to start long-term studies of exposure victims. They have patients in Istanbul they have been following over the last two years, and have shown some data at meetings I’ve attended in the U.S. on the effects on the respiratory system in the lungs of people who have been exposed. People basically had asthmalike conditions, or signs of chemical lung injury, that were very clear.
Aim. This study aimed to assess the long-term respiratory effects of tear gases among the subjects with history of frequent exposure.
Materials and Methods. A questionnaire by NIOSH and pulmonary function tests was performed in 93 males exposed to the tear gases frequently and 55 nonexposed subjects.
Results. The mean numbers of total exposure and last 2 years exposure were 8.4 ± 6.4 times, 5.6 ± 5.8 times, respectively. Tear gas exposed subjects were presented with a higher rate for cough and phlegm more than 3 months (24.7% versus 11.3%,
P > 0.05). Mean FEV1/FVC and % predicted MMFR in smoker exposed subjects are significantly lower than those in smoker controls (81.7% versus 84.1%,
P = 0.046 and 89.9% versus 109.6%,
P = 0.0004, resp.). % predicted MMFR in nonsmoker exposed subjects is significantly lower than that in nonsmoker controls (99.4% versus 113.1%,
P = 0.05).
Odds ratios for chest tightness, exercise dyspnea, dyspnea on level ground, winter morning cough, phlegm, and daily phlegm were increased almost 2 to 2.5 folds among tear gas exposed subjects. Conclusion. The rates for respiratory complaints were high in the case of the exposure to the tear gases previously. Tears gas exposed subjects were found to be under the risk for chronic bronchitis.
Not a large sample size but it seems like the best paper done on the topic.
Edit: nothing bad about the paper jumped out at me and it was done in 2012 and published in 2014. So well before the current political climate but as with much of academia it may have some behind the scenes fuckery with the data.