injuries poisoning
Riot Control Chemical Agents
Symptoms and Signs of Riot Control Chemical Injuries
Although there are minor differences between compounds, most riot-control agents cause nearly immediate irritation and pain involving the eyes, mucous membranes, and skin, which may also become briefly erythematous. Respiratory effects resulting from inhalation are typically obviously audible (eg, coughing, sneezing, and wheezing) due to type 1 damage, although type 2 damage (delayed-onset shortness of breath due to incipient acute lung injury) can occur with high doses. Deaths are usually due to pulmonary edema resulting from high doses delivered in confined spaces. The largely obsolete agent DM may cause either immediate or delayed-onset irritation along with vomiting. Effects of all of the riot-control agents typically resolve within a half an hour, although agent left on the skin may cause blisters. Reactive airways dysfunction syndrome (RADS) can occur long after exposure and persist indefinitely, although it is impossible to predict which patients will develop this complication. 