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Legislative & Policy Analyst, Metriarch
This week marked the one year anniversary of George Floyd’s murder, an aggressive display of police brutality that sparked one of the largest protest movements seen in America’s history. The protests were consistently met with police force, taken out on protesters whether they had displayed any form of violence or not. One use of force that was consistently used against protesters was tear gas. As its use continued to be splashed across the news, its safety began coming into question. Medical professionals, those exposed to the chemical, and medical organizations like Planned Parenthood are bringing to light the gas’s possible adverse health effects.
Tear gas is a chemical weapon initially intended for warfare. Its effects have almost exclusively been studied on cisgender men. Despite police use on the general population since the 1920s, there was no research on the effect on people with uteruses until the 1980s.
You probably guessed it. Researchers have been finding that tear gas is affecting far more than our tears. From Seattle to Minneapolis, individuals with uteruses have reported irregular and spontaneous periods after tear gas exposure. According to KUOW, a woman living near the Seattle protests experienced three periods in one month after being exposed, despite typically only having a couple throughout the year. Reports like this are popping up nationwide. People with ordinarily sparse periods—like those with IUDs and trans men on hormone therapy—report suddenly and abnormally menstruating. Further, trends indicate that tear gas increases the likelihood of pregnancy loss. During the Arab Spring, miscarriage rates skyrocketed in hotspots of unrest where tear gas was used extensively.
Many Black Lives Matter protests have occurred in Black and brown residential neighborhoods meaning tear gas has been heavily deployed near homes. Even if all windows are closed, tear gas is still able to seep inside. Without proper cleaning after exposure, tear gas can linger and contaminate food and surfaces.
Planned Parenthood is challenging the dearth of research on the effects of tear gas on individuals with uteruses. After witnessing the liberal use of tear gas during Black Lives Matters protests, the organization has launched a study to look into tear gas’s effect on the population. While the study is not specifically asking for input from BIPOC, the findings will undoubtedly impact them as the community who has been most affected by tear gas’s use.
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