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While morality and the need for the use of the riot control agent are certainly a topic of debate, others also worry about the effects that this substance might have on young migrant children seen in a scrum.
According to experts, tear gas is not exactly what you believe, but it can even have a dangerous and lasting effect on children.
What is tear gas? Although there are a few different compounds that can be used for this purpose, the extremely common compound is called chlorobenzylidenemalononitrile or "CS".
It is often badumed that tear gas is an irritant, such as fumes of an onion in the eyes or pepper in the nose. Recent medical research has proved the opposite, says Sven Eric Jordt, an badistant professor of anesthesiology at Duke University and specialized in sensory mechanisms
"We have discovered that the chemical causes pain by activating pain receptors" says Jordt. I would consider them as neurotoxic agents that act selectively and very powerful on painful nerves. "
Children are particularly vulnerable to its effects
According to the CDC, most of these effects disappear after 15 to 30 minutes – if the person is decontaminated.
This is a crucial step because Jordt points out that tear gas is not a gas at all, but rather a solid, a powder that must be heated and mixed with a solvent.
can be deposited on skin, hair, eyes and clothes " , he explains. "If [people] is not decontaminated, it can cause injury."
Children are at an even greater risk of injury – both
"Children are particularly at risk because the lacry gas are more heavy than air, "says Jordt. "It is present at higher concentrations near the ground and children, being shorter, are exposed to higher concentrations, and because their lungs are smaller, the risk of injury is higher when they are inhale tear gas. "
![A Honduran girl, a member of a caravan of thousands of people from Central America heading for the United States, cries after fleeing tear gas launched by border control American near the wall between the United States and Mexico, in Tijuana (Mexico). [19659014] A Honduran migrant girl belonging to a caravan of thousands of people from Central America en route to the United States is crying after fleeing teargas launched by the US border control near the wall between the United States and Mexico in Tijuana, Mexico](http://cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/badets/181126135528-06-migrant-border-clashes-large-169.jpg)
This affects their long-term health
These reasons were echoed in a statement by the American Academy of Pediatrics that recommended the use of tear gas on migrant families.
"The use of tear gas on children – including infants and toddlers in diapers – goes against evidence-based recommendations and threatens their short-term health and well-being. long-term, "said PAA President Colleen A. Kraft,
" Children are particularly vulnerable to the physiological effects of chemical agents. Their reduced size, more frequent breaths per minute and limited response to cardiovascular stress compared to adults amplify the harmful effects of agents such as tear gas. "19659002] PAA also alludes to psychological trauma possible because the children who arrived at the border "made a painful trip"
"We must do our utmost not to traumatize them again", writes Kraft.
And these long-term effects are severe
In addition to burns and respiratory problems right after the fact, the researchers recognized several long-term health risks that were exposed to tear gas
"There have been many cases in which exposed people have been hospitalized because of lung damage that takes a long time to heal. s or weeks, "says Jordt.
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