1
00:00:00,520 --> 00:00:03,800
Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff from house Stuff Works dot Com, where

2
00:00:03,840 --> 00:00:15,280
Speaker 1: smart happens him Marshall Brain with today's question, what does

3
00:00:15,440 --> 00:00:19,479
Speaker 1: tear gas do? Tear gas is used both by the

4
00:00:19,520 --> 00:00:23,600
Speaker 1: police for crowd control and by individuals for self defense.

5
00:00:24,120 --> 00:00:27,200
Speaker 1: There are three kinds of tear gas in common use.

6
00:00:27,760 --> 00:00:31,880
Speaker 1: First there's CN, which is often sold as mace. Then

7
00:00:31,920 --> 00:00:35,320
Speaker 1: there's CS, which is stronger than CN but wears off

8
00:00:35,400 --> 00:00:39,400
Speaker 1: more quickly, and finally there's pepper spray made from cap

9
00:00:39,479 --> 00:00:43,200
Speaker 1: sasan from chili peppers mixed with a vehicle like corn oil.

10
00:00:43,840 --> 00:00:46,080
Speaker 1: Tear gas that you hear about on the news, in

11
00:00:46,120 --> 00:00:49,959
Speaker 1: the form of CN or CS is often used by

12
00:00:50,040 --> 00:00:54,000
Speaker 1: law enforcement when they face a combative crowd. The tear

13
00:00:54,040 --> 00:00:57,600
Speaker 1: gas is launched in the form of grenades or aerosol cans,

14
00:00:57,960 --> 00:01:01,560
Speaker 1: so the liquid becomes an aerosol. Both CN and CS

15
00:01:01,600 --> 00:01:06,400
Speaker 1: are irritants. They irritate mucus membranes and the eyes, nose, mouth,

16
00:01:06,480 --> 00:01:10,560
Speaker 1: and lungs and cause tearing, sneezing, coughing, and so on.

17
00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:15,440
Speaker 1: Pepper spray is an inflammatory agent that causes inflammation in

18
00:01:15,480 --> 00:01:19,080
Speaker 1: the eyes, nose, and mouth. Its effect is more debilitating,

19
00:01:19,360 --> 00:01:21,800
Speaker 1: but you have to hit someone with it directly for

20
00:01:21,880 --> 00:01:24,880
Speaker 1: it to be effective. This makes it more useful for

21
00:01:25,000 --> 00:01:27,880
Speaker 1: self defense because you can spray your assailant in the

22
00:01:27,920 --> 00:01:32,160
Speaker 1: face with it. It's also useful against attacking dogs and bearers.

23
00:01:33,240 --> 00:01:36,120
Speaker 1: Do you have any ideas or suggestions for this podcast?

24
00:01:36,560 --> 00:01:39,200
Speaker 1: If so, please send me an email at podcast at

25
00:01:39,200 --> 00:01:41,920
Speaker 1: how stuff works dot com. For more on this and

26
00:01:41,959 --> 00:01:44,320
Speaker 1: thousands of other topics, go to how stuff works dot

27
00:01:44,400 --> 00:01:47,199
Speaker 1: com and be sure to check out the brain stuff

28
00:01:47,240 --> 00:01:49,720
Speaker 1: blog on the house stuff works dot com home page.