WEBVTT - Why Is Tear Gas Especially Dangerous During COVID-19?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeart Radio, Hey brain

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff Lauren vog obam here. Over the past two weeks,

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<v Speaker 1>enormous crowds of protesters in the United States have met with,

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<v Speaker 1>in some cases, ominous clouds of tear gas. But the

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<v Speaker 1>use of tear gas to disperse protesters and cities in

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<v Speaker 1>the United States and around the world could have unintended

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<v Speaker 1>consequences when it comes to the spread of the coronavirus.

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<v Speaker 1>The large crowds that have gathered to demonstrate for racial

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<v Speaker 1>justice and against police brutality in the weeks after the

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<v Speaker 1>death of George Floyd in Minneapolis in late May, we're

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<v Speaker 1>already worrisome to public health officials. Although many demonstrators have

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<v Speaker 1>worn masks, many crowds have grown much too large to

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<v Speaker 1>maintain social distance and guidelines. Also, the protests have typically

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<v Speaker 1>involved crowds of people shouting and chanting, activities that could

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<v Speaker 1>potentially send infected droplets far and wide, and that involved

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<v Speaker 1>the kind of deep, open mouthed breathing that has been

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<v Speaker 1>observed to increase the risk of catching the virus. We

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<v Speaker 1>spoke with Ambushment Key, PhD, an assistant professor of microbiology

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<v Speaker 1>in the Department of Biomedical Sciences at Mercer University's School

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<v Speaker 1>of Medicine in Making, Georgia. She explained, tear gas components

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<v Speaker 1>are mainly there to hit the pain receptors in your

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<v Speaker 1>body to get you to move. It's like you're poked

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<v Speaker 1>with a stick. You want to get away from the pain.

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<v Speaker 1>The other thing tear gas does is trigger your parasympathetic response,

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<v Speaker 1>a neurologic series of activities that are outside of your control.

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<v Speaker 1>But because there's a chemical irritant in place, your body

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<v Speaker 1>is going to do everything it can to flush it out.

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<v Speaker 1>A person will feel the symptoms of the chemicals most

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<v Speaker 1>commonly used in tear gas, CSCN and CR within twenty

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<v Speaker 1>to thirty seconds after being exposed. Schmicky said, it's going

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<v Speaker 1>to increase mucus production along the sites where you've had exposure,

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<v Speaker 1>and that's mainly your respiratory mucos alignings in your nose.

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<v Speaker 1>That means you'll have a runny nose. You're going to

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<v Speaker 1>have mucas production in the lungs along the track ya

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<v Speaker 1>your windpipe. You're going to want to cough that out.

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<v Speaker 1>You're also going to want to salivate more than you

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<v Speaker 1>ordinarily would you're going to produce more tears. How much

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<v Speaker 1>a person is affected depends on many variables, such as

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<v Speaker 1>whether there's a breeze or how close they are to

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<v Speaker 1>the agent. A person's eyes will sting, they may sneeze

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<v Speaker 1>or rich Schmickey said, But the most dangerous thing is

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<v Speaker 1>the coughing that will happen in response to the tear gas.

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<v Speaker 1>It's a deep cough because you're trying so hard to

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<v Speaker 1>get this out of your body, and it has the

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<v Speaker 1>potential to spread vible particles rather far. It's your body's

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<v Speaker 1>natural response to get rid of a chemical irritant. But

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<v Speaker 1>it's the same mechanism that we're concerned about with virus spread.

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<v Speaker 1>It's the perfect storm of things you don't want to

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<v Speaker 1>happen in a pandemic. And of course she's not the

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<v Speaker 1>only concerned party. During a June four House Appropriations hearing

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<v Speaker 1>on the Coronavirus Response Centers for Disease Controlled Director doctor

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<v Speaker 1>Robert Redfield also specifically called out that the use of

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<v Speaker 1>tear gas by police might help the virus spread. We

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<v Speaker 1>also spoke with Forest Brown, a resident of Atlanta who

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<v Speaker 1>lives downtown just two blocks from the CNN building and

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<v Speaker 1>Centennial Olympic Park. The entire area has been the site

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<v Speaker 1>of many Atlanta protests past and present. The first weekend

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<v Speaker 1>of the current demonstrations, he stood outside his building with

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<v Speaker 1>neighbors with an eye on protecting their property when he

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<v Speaker 1>got a whiff of a pungent odor tear gas. Brown said,

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<v Speaker 1>we could smell it and it stung our eyes. We

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<v Speaker 1>would go inside waited out, but it wasn't a strong hit.

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<v Speaker 1>You could feel it, but then it dissipated. That was Saturday.

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<v Speaker 1>Sunday night was a different story. Brown said, I was

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<v Speaker 1>actually in the interior courtyard of our building. I didn't

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<v Speaker 1>see the cloud, but it was a bad dose. Compared

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<v Speaker 1>to Saturday night, my symptoms were much worse, stinging and

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<v Speaker 1>watering eyes. It also made my lips feel like they

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<v Speaker 1>were tingling and burning. I felt like I wanted to

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<v Speaker 1>throw up. It made me feel very weak, almost jittery,

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<v Speaker 1>like I might pass out. Brown says the worst of

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<v Speaker 1>it was over in about thirty minutes, though he felt

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<v Speaker 1>nauseated for several hours and even had blurred vision on Monday,

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<v Speaker 1>though he was wearing a mask following standard protocols and

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<v Speaker 1>a full block away from where the tear gas was

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<v Speaker 1>actually released, he was exposed to it. Schmid Key is

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<v Speaker 1>concerned with the use of tear gas demonstrations during the pandemic,

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<v Speaker 1>not only because it potentially increases the spread of the coronavirus,

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<v Speaker 1>but also because the same people who are at risk

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<v Speaker 1>for COVID nineteen infection people with underlying conditions, are also

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<v Speaker 1>at risk for side effects from tear gas exposure. Schmidkey said,

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<v Speaker 1>COVID nineteen sort of blurs the lines between being a

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<v Speaker 1>respiratory disease and a cardiovascular disease. The similarities aren't uniform,

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<v Speaker 1>but if you have asthma, you're going to be at

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<v Speaker 1>higher risk of complications from something like a tear gas exposure.

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<v Speaker 1>People who have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or any of

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<v Speaker 1>those sorts of ailments could have more severe outcomes. She

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<v Speaker 1>concedes that it's a difficult situation because a person can

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<v Speaker 1>make plans to participate in a peaceful protest and find

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<v Speaker 1>themselves in a situation that they aren't prepared for. She

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<v Speaker 1>encourages all protesters, whether they were exposed to tear gas

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<v Speaker 1>or not, to make plans to be tested for COVID nineteen. However,

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<v Speaker 1>don't get tested immediately. When the virus gets into the body,

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<v Speaker 1>it goes into what's called the eclipse period, hiding out

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<v Speaker 1>in the cells while it makes copies of itself. Then

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<v Speaker 1>it starts to leave the cells and spread to other cells,

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<v Speaker 1>and that's when it becomes detectable. Schmickey suggests that everyone

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<v Speaker 1>who has been at a protest rally get tested between

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<v Speaker 1>three and seven days after participating, even if they're not

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<v Speaker 1>showing symptoms, because of the high rate of asymptomatic carriers.

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<v Speaker 1>CDC Director Redfield issued the same advice at the June

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<v Speaker 1>fourth Sended Appropriations hearing, saying, I do think there's a potential, unfortunately,

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<v Speaker 1>for this to be a seating event. Schmickey said, protesters

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<v Speaker 1>do have some things going for them. They're outside, they

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<v Speaker 1>have the benefit of ventilation, they have sunlight. We know

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<v Speaker 1>that evy light is an't advantageous for the virus. Protesters

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<v Speaker 1>are typically young, but I wouldn't count on those things

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<v Speaker 1>being some sort of anti COVID security blanket if you

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<v Speaker 1>do come into contact with tear gas. Amnesty International says

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<v Speaker 1>that gas masks are the best protection if they're properly

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<v Speaker 1>fitted and sealed, though if you don't have one, they

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<v Speaker 1>recommend wearing goggles and a respirator or a wet bandana

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<v Speaker 1>over the nose and mouth. If you're exposed, try to

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<v Speaker 1>stay calm and breathe slowly, blow your nose, rinse your

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<v Speaker 1>mouth with water, cough and spit. Try not to swallow,

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<v Speaker 1>because you want to get those irritants out. Today's episode

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<v Speaker 1>was written by Patty Resmusen and produced by Tyler Playing.

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<v Speaker 1>For more in this and lots of other topics, visit

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