Irritant

Use of tear gas by the French gendarmerie mobile .

Irritants (also irritant warfare agents ) are chemical substances that are supposed to impair the functionality of the human body by irritating it. The main uses of irritants are in the airways and eyes (tear gas) . Like many other so-called non-lethal weapons , irritants can cause lasting damage to health or even death.

Fabrics

Eye irritants

Eye irritants ( Lachrymators ; from the Latin lacrima 'tear') and non-damaging eye warfare agents act by irritating the nerves of the cornea of the eyes and thereby causing tearing, causing pain or temporarily blindness.

The acetone- based substances often used in the past (especially bromoacetone ) are no longer used because of their health hazards. Common eye irritants are chloroacetophenone (CN) - which has meanwhile been largely replaced by 2-chlorobenzylidenemalonic acid dinitrile (CS) - or dibenzoxazepine (CR). Eye irritants based on oleoresin capsicum (so-called pepper sprays ) are increasingly being used. By spray cans and water guns that do not evaporate the active ingredients at high temperature, are Oleoresin Capsicum , CS and CN as an aerosol or liquid released. Occasionally, foaming agents are also added .

Gaseous eye irritants are called tear gas .

Nasal and throat irritants

Nasal and throat irritants or non-damaging nasal and throat agents irritate the upper respiratory tract. The symptoms are mainly cough - and sneezing , secretion of nasal discharge , lacrimation, and effects on the central nervous system such as nausea , vomiting , headaches , sensations of pressure in the ears , impaired coordination . In high doses, damage to the skin, the respiratory tract and even toxic pulmonary edema , cramps in the limb muscles and temporary loss of consciousness are possible. Examples of nasal and throat irritants include diphenylchlorarsine and adamsite .

Areas of application

During the First World War , similar substances (nose and throat irritants like Clark 1 first ) were used in so-called colored shooting in combination with poisonous gases ( diphosgene ) in order to make the poisonous gases more effective. These irritants cause nausea and should induce their victims to remove their respirators (called mask breakers ).

According to the police law of the federal states, the irritant is sometimes referred to as a weapon, but mostly as an "aid in the exercise of physical violence". Some remedies are over the counter and are used in individual self- defense.

Irritants are also used to test the tightness of respiratory masks and as a component of pesticides ( pesticides ) or to warn of odor against highly toxic substances ( hydrocyanic acid ).

Insert forms

Be used irritants in spray gas devices , irritant projectiles or -geschossen (grenades), in tear gas plants , as admixtures in water cannons or tear gas in ammunition for pistols . Gas masks offer reliable protection against tear gas.

international law

The Geneva Protocol of 1925 did not explicitly outlaw the use of irritants in warfare, and these substances were used in subsequent wars. The 1992 Chemical Weapons Convention, on the other hand, outlawed all chemicals that cause even a temporary inability to act. According to this convention, tear gas is regarded as a "means of combating riots" and is therefore used by police forces around the world against demonstrators.

Since the dividing line between military and police operations is blurred in asymmetrical warfare , irritants are also used in war-like conditions.

Problems

Large amounts of modern tear gases can lead to health problems such as slight burns to the eyes and mucous membranes. Serious complications can occur in people with respiratory problems (such as asthma or bronchitis ), kidney or liver damage .

Web links

Commons : Irritants - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

↑ CC links with CH-acidic compounds (PDF; 108 kB).
↑ ^a ^b Wolfgang Legrum: Fragrances, between stench and fragrance. Vieweg + Teubner Verlag, 2011, pp. 74-75, ISBN 978-3-8348-1245-2 .
^ Zetkin / Schaldach: Lexicon of Medicine ( Memento from July 16, 2010 in the Internet Archive ). Torchbearers, 2005.
↑ Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Storage and Use of Chemical Weapons and on the Destruction of Such Weapons (PDF; 359 kB); Article II.
↑ Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Storage and Use of Chemical Weapons and on the Destruction of Such Weapons (PDF; 359 kB); Article I, Paragraph (5).
↑ On the planned equipping of the Bundeswehr with tear gas .

[1] CC links with CH-acidic compounds (PDF; 108 kB).

[Legrum-2] Wolfgang Legrum: Fragrances, between stench and fragrance. Vieweg + Teubner Verlag, 2011, pp. 74-75, ISBN 978-3-8348-1245-2 .

[3] Zetkin / Schaldach: Lexicon of Medicine ( Memento from July 16, 2010 in the Internet Archive ). Torchbearers, 2005.

[4] Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Storage and Use of Chemical Weapons and on the Destruction of Such Weapons (PDF; 359 kB); Article II.

[5] Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Storage and Use of Chemical Weapons and on the Destruction of Such Weapons (PDF; 359 kB); Article I, Paragraph (5).

[6] On the planned equipping of the Bundeswehr with tear gas .