Flashbangs, Tear Gas, and Rubber Bullets: How Extensive Are These Injuries?

This transcript has been edited for clarity.

Robert D. Glatter, MD: Hi. I am Dr Robert Glatter, advisor for Medscape Emergency Medicine. Today's focus will be on the physical effects of crowd-control agents such as tear gas, pepper spray, and rubber bullets.

Here to join us for a discussion on this topic is Dr Rohini Haar, an emergency medicine physician and research fellow in human rights at the UC Berkeley School of Law, along with Dr Joseph Sakran, a trauma surgeon and director of emergency general surgery at Johns Hopkins. Welcome to both of you.

Dr Haar, would you describe the main physical effects and injuries caused by these agents that we often refer to as lacrimates (eg, tear gas and pepper spray)?

Rohini J. Haar, MD, MPH: The term "tear gas" is a common or general parlance for a wide variety of different agents. They contain more than just one chemical compound. The typical ones used are CS, which has been around for over 100 years, as well as some of its successors (CS1, CS2, CR), which have different levels of potency and a longer shelf life. There is CN─ an agent used in mace cans ─ and synthetic or natural pepper, which is highly concentrated and weaponized.