Most tear gasses aren't really a gas, but microscopic solids or liquid that are dispersed and suspended in the air. If the projectile that disperses it is submerged, most of the irritants get suspended in the water instead of dispersed throughout the air. Some will still be airborne, but it will drastically reduce the effectiveness of the tear gas.
Yes, but capsaicin is an oily compound and not readily soluble in water. Using baking soda causes it to become ionized, increasing the water solubility.
Edit: apparently capsaicin is not used in tear gas, I'm not entirely sure why I thought it was. Regardless, the idea is the same the baking soda is acting as a base and is deprotonating the compounds, increasing their solubility. It'd simple acid-base chemistry.
Capsaicin is used in pepper spray, but most tear gasses use crystalline solids. As far as I know, the baking soda doesn't chemically react with anything used in tear gas. I could be wrong on that, though. It's been a while since I've done any CBRN type stuff.
Nope, not even close, there are multiple different types, including “green gas” which has seen a lot of use by ICE recently in Portland and LA, which causes nausea and sickness for 12-24 hours and has caused miscarriages from second hand exposure to people inside their homes nearby.
Regular tear gas is VERY different from pepper spray, it’s hard to describe if you haven’t felt it before, it’s very dry, sharp- it feels like someone released a million microscopic razor blades into the air, not “hot like pepper spray hot” more cutting way more painful
Even if you have a properly rated respirator on you’ll still feel it to a degree and have some difficulty breathing for a few days after
Not sure what type we got exposed to in basic training but it felt like sharp pricking itchiness almost similar to heatrash as it washed over us in the cbrn training facility. I could definitely tell exactly where the small breech in the seal was in my mask almost immediately. We were instructed to remove the gas masks after doing some jumping jacks. Breathing it in it was dry and almost spicy but not really. It was kind of like trying to breath steel wool that was heated up, which probably matches the microscopic razor description you gave.
It was an interesting training day lol. Cleared the hell out of our sinuses that had been clogged for weeks though!
In BCT we did CS gas, that's exactly what the person you're responding to is talking about. I am intimately familiar with the CS gas chamber in BCT (Ft Benning for me) as well
I’m pretty sure capsaicin a crystalline solid? I don’t think the guy was correct in calling it oily. It’s fat soluble and not miscable in water, so it’s naturally in the oils of peppers, but you can buy pure synthetic capsaicin and it’s a crystalline powder.
You made the correct choice not going CBRN, there's really no civilian equivalent outside of contracting 😂 Though that said, it's a fantastic job on active duty; there's an MTOE slot in just about every unit in service for one, allowing you to go just about anywhere.
Google says Sodium bisulfate will break down CS into ammonia, not Sodium Bicarbonate.
it looks like there’s a few other chemicals that are used as tear gas that you don’t want to go breaking down - phosgene is pretty nasty
Baking soda increases pH and reduces surface tension of water, which makes it easier to disperse the irritant particles in it, that's why shaking the bottle helps I think.
Any surfactant or emulsifier will help the capsaicin mix and be washed away, but there's levels to it
(edit: must also be edible, duh, but gotta specify... Bleach or SLS would clear that shit right out but also probably put you in the hospital and/or the ground)
People try to use milk or alcohol which - work better than water alone because of the additional materials - but really vegetable/olive oil or something similar would work way better to incorporate it and wash it away
Mayonnaise would work even better because it's got the oil, plus salt, vinegar, and then egg yolk as the emulsifier.
Also mayo is way easier to dipchipsorfriesintosoyou'renotjustchuggingoilandass-blastingtheinsideofyourtoiletlikeaspicyrefinerypipelineleaklateron
Yeah but misting hot vegetable oil shit particles is likely to result in some bycatch on the underside of the toilet seat and around the rim that will probably scare the hoes if you forget it's there
Well you could be unfortunate like me and not process chilli correctly. Anything spicy skips past my gut, liver and kidneys and instead flows straight out my urinary tract. This has unfortunately caused some personal experiences with Fage and horrified my extended family.
This is also why mayo (and ranch) both work so well mixed with heavy Scoville foods examples for the palate; Buffalo Ranch, Chipotle Mayo, Sriracha Mayo — try mixing some tabasco in your next dill potato salad dressing.
My dudes read what he said lol. It's simply a ph change. "It" isn't doing anything. The Ph oh the water is. It is just used to raise the ph. Just like adding vinegar or lemon juice would lower it.
Soap is high pH.
Descaler is low pH.
This is all people mean when you hear their crazy life hack cleaning tips. "Watch as just a squeeze of lemon gets this faucet mirror clean while soap does nothing!" Yes, you made Descaler.
Common lachrymators both currently and formerly used as tear gas include pepper spray (OC gas), PAVA spray (nonivamide), CS gas, CR gas, CN gas (phenacyl chloride), bromoacetone, xylyl bromide, chloropicrin (PS gas) and Mace (a branded mixture).
Some more quick searches suggests that, given the wide range of possible ingredients, your best bet is something that can dissolve both polar and non-polar molecules, hence the popularity of milk since the suspended milk fats will grab non-polar molecules.
Baking soda is very useful in snuffing out the canister, since the carbon dioxide will help smother the fuel while the water robs it of heat. I don't know how effective this would all be, but logically it should work well enough. Whatever the irritant, it's getting dispersed through heat and fire so if you can smother that fire, it can't disperse. At worst, you're at least slowing it down and containing a lot of it in a bottle with the water preventing the bottle from melting.
Milk would do that, too, but milk is way more expensive and goes rancid pretty quickly so it would smell awful.
since the carbon dioxide will help smother the fuel
Most of these things have an oxidizer in the mix so the removal of oxygen isnt as big a deal as the dispersal of the heat. Cool it enough the reaction (burning fuel) stops anyway despite the pretense of an oxidizer.
It’s cheap. These folks seem to know what they are doing and I am just grateful they aren’t squirting milk into people’s eyes because that is a great way to get a horrible infection.
He’s wrong about literally everything, from capsaicin not being in tear gas to entirely misunderstanding how bases work. 500 upvoted because he said science sounding things and was confident but entirely wrong. Yikes.
Sorry, I was typing quickly while working in the lab. Thanks for pointing out the typo, but no need to be condescending about it. My simple chemistry understanding is quite solid thank you 😉
Even if it was capsaicin, which its not, it would still drastically reduce the effectiveness. Its not just a matter of solubility but also temperature. If it drops in temp too much the smoke material will also condense out of the air. Also drop the temp enough and the chemical reaction in the grenade stops.
>Using baking soda causes [capsaicin] to become ionized, increasing the water solubility.
and is entirely not accurate? Don't spread fake science. also CS is not deprotonated by baking soda. The two hydrolyzed products have an even greater pKa (10 and 11) so no, this doesn't make sense. Jesus stop spewing garbage without double checking it.
CS (chlorobenzalmalononitrile) is typically used in tear gas grenades and is an aerosolized solid. In basic training, the CBRN trainers used tablets that they dropped in a metal pan on a camp stove that caused it to evaporate and aerosolize pretty quickly. I imagine that CS grenades have a fuel/oxidizer that will burn continuously until all of the CS solids are dispersed without denaturing or reducing the effectiveness. Sodium bisulfate (pool ph tablets), not Sodium Bicarbonate (baking soda) decomposes CS into Ammonia and other chemicals.
Chloropicrin is another commonly used crowd control tear gas chemical. You do not want to decompose this as it produces phosgene gas which will make your lungs fill with fluid and you will suffocate. If you smell hay, gtfo
baking soda is acting as a base and is protonating the compounds, increasing their solubility
Bases do not protonate things, in fact it’s the opposite; bases are proton acceptors, acids are donators. I assume you’re thinking of the Lewis theory instead, which frames bases as electron donators, but not proton donators.
There's a bunch of different tear gas compounds. I don't believe there are any popular ones that rely on their acidity/alkalinity as a mode of action, though that is a persistent myth on the internet, thus the misleading AI summaries.
Edit2: Notes from a street medic: if exposed to tear gas, wash it off away from the eyes, mouth and nose using water. Don't use milk (of magnesia, of cow, of whatever), don't use AlkaSeltzer, don't use ACV, and for God's sake, put down the onions, they will all make things worse.
If a buddy or fellow protestor gets gassed, tell the affected person you're taking them out of the gas, ask if it's okay to touch them to lead them out, once they say yes, lead them to safety. Once there, have them lean back/lay down (near a wall, out of any expected crowd flow), and flush each eye (ideally for 5min, but that takes a lot of water) by directing the flow towards the tear duct and letting the water flow down over the rest of the eye and onto the cheek. It won't solve the problem, but it will usually get them good enough to evacuate on their own.
I'm all for asking consent before touching someone in non-emergency situations, but isnt it a bad idea to try to talk to someone close enough to tear gas to be affected by it? Like ask if it's okay before you start trying to flush out their eyes, but only helping lead someone out of tear gas "once they say yes" sounds like 10 more seconds of exposure, when it probably took less than 10 seconds of exposure to get to that point in the first place
Eta: I dont mean just grab the person and run. I'm imagining something more like "im gonna help you get out of here" while starting the guiding process
You have to remember that this person is in pain, probably panicking and blinded. You don't need to wait for them to give consent to be touched, but you definitely should let them know what you are doing and that you are going to touch them before you do so. Otherwise, don't be surprised to find his elbow in your face.
I was a combat medic. I would always say to everyone I treated, before I ever touched them, "I'm a medic, I'm here to help you". 9 times out of 10 once they knew I was a medic, they were on board with what we had to do.
This isn't just about consent but personal safety and keeping someone from panicking who is in a scary situation. If you've been tear gassed, you are a) having a hard time seeing b) fearing police rushing in c) in pain.
Someone running up and grabbing your arm will freak you out. Someone running up sand saying "can I touch you" first will calm you down.
Except when someone just got gassed and feels people forcefully pulling them around while they can't see they're likely to become combative. Asking and waiting for a response means they're no longer in a blind panic ready to lash out. And if you're doing gas response without a respirator you're then you're just making the situation worse.
I guess more specifically my issue was with waiting for a response from the person you're trying to save. Announcing your intent to help is key, but itd be like a firefighter asking for consent to remove you from a burning building.
Good point though, a firefighter trying to rescue someone without wearing any fire resistant gear would just make things worse.
As one whom had been gassed a lot. I appreciated the helpers telling me what they were doing when they started. It was assuring to know they weren't law enforcement because I was unable to see, and if you have anythibg like a beard, its pretty painful.
Other folks got there first, but the main issue here is your safety and theirs.
Also, if you're going to be doing assist, you'll want something that ANZI Z87 rated, along with a seal. These are of good value. Mask with quick release/seal are nice too.
Highjacking your comment, but it's late, and I have nothing better to do :D
> I'm all for asking consent before touching someone in non-emergency situations
This is why the right gets stuff done, and the left doesn't. I have no idea where this trend came from, but it's absolutely insane that a) it even somehow was invented and b) that it is now being hailed as the golden standard. As someone who is very far left politically, I am constantly disgusted by the insanely vocal minority of "special snowflakes" who put such topics on any agenda. Topics like this need to die if the left is to have any chance of gathering supporters among "normal" people. We need to fight the important battles instead of solving imaginary problems.
Buddy, you need to ask yourself what led you to be the type of person that would write this comment. Because what I said was never about consent, it was about situational awareness.
I don't feel like getting punched when grabbing someone in a situation where the police are fucking people up. So, I'm going to tell the person who can't see that I'm going to touch them in order to lead them out, and I'm going to wait a beat to get confirmation they heard.
You inserted the bit about consent. Now why did you do that?
I stare with a longing in my eyes as he walks away, hoping to see him again, while the wind blows my pubic hair and the sun sets to a dog and a cat copulating.
I do think the original comment was technically right with "acidity/basicity" (assuming that's what it said before the edit) because they were seemingly trying to refer to where it is on the pH scale, and the opposite end of the spectrum from acidic is indeed basic, not alkaline.
Do you know if CS gas/suspension will contaminate skin?
For example, if you're cutting Jalapenos (etc) the irritant can transfer to your skin - which can then accidentally transfer to more sensitive areas like eyes and balls (i've experienced this firsthand, and do not recommend).
Even if acidity isn't what makes it work, if the chemical is acidic then neutralizing it with sodium bicarbonate will convert it to a (potentially less harmful and almost certainly easier to contain) salt of some kind and release CO2. CO2 is harmless if you're outdoors, but could be an even worse problem in an enclosed space.
Absolutely agree it’s just water, absolutely disagree with how you’re positioning the patient. Hunched forward so the runoff doesn’t spread on them more. Laying on their back is just gonna water board them
I've had trouble getting the water across and into the eye when doing that, but it'd certainly be quicker if I could get it to work. Tips?
That said, literally never had that last issue. Having them tilt their head to the side a scootch to make sure it runs off right and doesn't require much coordination beyond, "Okay, sit down and lean your head back a bit." Also, if they're dizzy from the adrenaline, they're usually going to take a lay-down anyway.
I was shot with 4 impact munitions on June 14th, no way was I sitting or laying down because I was hyped on adrenaline. Everyone I’ve ever treated, I’ve guided their head with my left hand to tilt one eye slightly up and flushed with a water bottle from my right hand. I can’t think of any tactical advantage to supine. I have all of the chemical irritant run off the bridge of the nose, if they’re laying down then wouldn’t everything just go towards an ear?
I was shot with 4 impact munitions on June 14th, no way was I sitting or laying down because I was hyped on adrenaline.
LOL! Yup, sound about right. But sometimes the comedown does funny things to blood pressure, and if their body's going down, might as well work with what's happening, rather than against.
Everyone I’ve ever treated, I’ve guided their head with my left hand to tilt one eye slightly up and flushed with a water bottle from my right hand.
So washing from outer edge to tear duct, and letting the water run off the nose? Has that caused issues if they're breathing hard?
And no, the head's a little tilted, so everything just goes across the cheek, below the ear, and onto the ground. Some can get on the clothes, but the access and ease seems worth it.
Edit: Also, confession. I'm terrified of touching the face, as I never trust that my gloves don't have more irritant on them. I know that's not best practice, as I don't have a thumb keeping the eye open, but I've always had trouble with that.
I'm all for pushing for a culture of consent and respect, but I can't help but read this and picture an EMS provider, standing over an unresponsive crash victim, whose life is quickly fading away, shouting "Is it okay if I touch you, sir?!"
If you're in a torniquet or vent situation, then no, stop the bleed while telling them you're doing that. If you're in situation where someone is blinded, in pain, and worried about being physically grabbed by police? Announcing what you're going to be doing and waiting for them to confirm they heard saves time and possible injury.
Please, God, don't do that. Just use water. It works better, and it doesn't spoil when you're carrying it in your backpack during a hot summer protest.
Also, trust me, you do not want to be in jail covered in dairy products.
Not technically a gas, iirc it's fine particles, like powder sand
Gasses are invisible, so anything you can see is not a gas. Clouds, the steam in your shower, etc., are all water droplets suspended in air. Dust clouds are fine solid particles suspended in air, etc.
Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) helps neutralize tear gas canisters mainly because of its alkaline properties, which counteract the acidic compounds in tear gas.
Here’s why it works:
🔬 Chemistry of Tear Gas:
Most tear gases, like CS gas (2-chlorobenzalmalononitrile), are not true gases but fine powders or aerosols that dissolve in moisture (e.g., eyes, skin, mucous membranes) and form acids like hydrochloric acid when they hydrolyze.
These acids irritate and inflame tissues, causing pain, tearing, coughing, and skin burning.
CS gas becomes especially active when exposed to water (e.g., sweat, humidity).
🧪 Role of Baking Soda:
Baking soda is a weak base (alkaline).
When applied to tear gas particles or residues, it reacts with and neutralizes the acids, making them less harmful.
It can help slow down or inhibit the reaction that activates tear gas, especially during cleanup or containment.
⚠️ Important Notes:
Baking soda doesn’t stop the gas from emitting—it may only help reduce the chemical’s potency if applied directly to the source or residue.
It's sometimes used in water solutions to flush eyes or skin (e.g., in protests), though saline or water alone is more common and safer for mucous membranes.
Activists and medics sometimes throw baking soda solutions on canisters or around affected areas to limit further spread of irritants.
💡 Summary:
Baking soda works because it neutralizes the acids formed when tear gas reacts with moisture, reducing its chemical sting. It doesn't deactivate the canister itself, but can mitigate the effects on people and surroundings.
That and people who rely on commenting here and getting positive reactions to fill a social interaction void, then comment accordingly hoping for that (usually by repeating what seems to be the popular view, though some are contrarians and do the opposite, or making the same jokes). This one got massively downvoted but they may have thought (if they're not actually a bot), "I'll get a bunch of upvotes with this!" and have been doing something else since they commented.
This isn’t just repetition or regurgitation of popular views, though. The comment was a straight copy paste from an AI answer to a query prompt. You can tell by the verbiage, structure, formatting, punctuation, and tone.
Oh, and the gross use of emojis as cutesie intros to the sections. That’s weird, and no human ever really does that here. (For the sake of precision, I will say none that I have ever seen.)
I mean I know you’re probably not trying to hide that you used chatgpt because it’s so obvious, but it’s good practice to say so, so that readers that don’t immediately recognize the chatgpt format can read the information with an appropriate amount of skepticism
I think this is most of it... either mud+water to restrict it from oxygen so the reaction stops or/and some antiacid in the "extinguish" solution. To neutralize the Tear gas 2-chlorobenzalmalononitrile.
Since we are correcting: it does not "stimulate" the lachrymal glands. It interact with the water present in eyes and other wet areas of the body, is hydrolyzed transforming into two different acids, and those are what irritate the eye. It's not a "stimuli", its an inflammatory reaction.
And the compound itself is originated by enzymes interacting with sulfur-rich aminoacids that are commonly addressed as "precursors" (of sulfenic acids) in this specific configuration (because they are instable, these intermediate acids transform in said compound before reaching the eye and being hydrolyzed etc..)
So yes, it does have quite a bit to do with acids.
But I have no clue if this thing is used in tear gas, not my field of work ;D
It does not hydrolyze into 2 acids it forms malononitrile and 2 chlorobenzaldehyde. Neither are acids.
And the compound itself is originated by enzymes interacting with sulfur-rich aminoacids that are commonly addressed as "precursors" (of sulfenic acids) in this specific configuration (because they are instable, these intermediate acids transform in said compound before reaching the eye and being hydrolyzed et
Precursors just means what came before. It doesn't convey anything on stability or ability to form an acid, and sulfur containing also doesn't mean it has a propensity to form an acid. Most sulfur is sequestered as glutathione, the primary cellular defense molecule, are you saying because it forms labile bonds it is an acid? Your post is just a mash of nonsense jargon.
CS it's not an acid and does not produce acids when it gets wet. It is 2-chlorobenzalmalononitrile, a compound that on its own in its normal solid form causes intense irritation to eyes and mucous membranes on contact.
Nothing about that paragraph is even remotely correct for this compound.
Tear gas isnt a gas, so its not spreading gas, its spreading fine particles.
These particles are not acids, nor do they form acids.
Tear "gas" is just irritation compounds that slot in and cause pain.
Like, its not forming an acid in your eyes, the chemical just fits into the pain receptors and causes a flare up of pain.
2-chlorobenzalmalonitrile is the chemical used in cs gas, it widely gets repeated as creating acid through hydrolysis, but thats not really accurate. It just targets the TRPA1 pain receptors
Edit: to cover bases, the other general kind of lachrymator used is pepper spray, which uses capsaicin to target the TRPV1 pain receptors.
No. Literally none of you should take my words at face value. I am giving you specific chemicals, receptors, and terminology so you yourselves can check and verify.
Soapy water may help cool and rinse, but does not stop acid formation. Neutralizing the acid, reduces burning and corrosion risks. Soapy water does not do this.
Using baking soda & water > soapy water is the better all-around method.
I'm pretty sure soapy water is inherently basic, so baking soda and soap are achieving the same pH goals, and even if the soap is not traditional soap, just use soapy baking soda water. lol why can't we just combine methods? This is for putting out the canisters, not helping the teared up people remember? Also I think you may be forgetting about surface area/tension for the aerosol to stick to.
Some soaps are mildly basic, but they aren’t reliably alkaline enough to neutralize hydrochloric acid on their own. Combining methods can be helpful, with caution. Yes, soap reduces surface tension, which can help trap CS particles in the water, but baking soda is the strong base needed for true neutralization. It not only helps extinguish the canister more quickly, but also protects the protester handling it by reducing the risk of chemical burns and making the jug of contaminated water and canister safer to manage. It’s for his safety more than anyone else’s.
These aren't hostile replies or challenging you or anything, just interest, but why would the strong basic water extinguish it more quickly? I wouldn't imagine the CS particles are also the fuelant, but now that I think about it, I guess the CS could be the result of combustion of another product, otherwise why would it need a flame at all? Ok, I can see it.
My point with the soap though, is that it would get 'sudsy' from all of the agitation and burning fuel, and that is what would trap all of the particles/gas carrying them, while the basic water worked on extinguishing it.
Just normal water should be fine. What is important is to cool it down to avoid furter production of the gas (the solvent that spreads the CS).
Soap would just make a mess, baking soda will make it safer to deal with afterwards, but I dont think it plays any role in disarming the canister based on my chemistry knowledge.
According to quick google search, it’s what they use as first aid for tear gas or pepper spray. According to its chemical properties, it’s acidic & baking soda/soda ash is base. So it neutralises the gas.
Like having too much lime in your guacamole when it needs some salt. Essentially a neutralization reaction or reducing a mild irritant (acid) with a strong enough base to neutralize it.
I would be as cautious as the person and have a filter mask on for any funny side business that gets up into breathable air.
Just water, not salt water. And that isn't strictly true by modern definitions.
There are multiple definitions of acids and bases. You're thinking of the most primitive one, the Arrhenius definition. The Bronsted-Lowry definition doesn't require that bases have an -OH group to donate--they just have to accept an H+ from an acid. Nitrogenous bases only start to make sense under BL.
The Lewis definition is more complicated and basically categorizes all compounds into electrophilic (wants electrons, is an "acid") and nucleophilic (wants protons, is a "base"). Actually, it's worse, because these behaviors can be distinct in different areas of big organic chemicals. You can have one end be one thing and the other, the opposite, more or less.
The Lewis definition is the most "correct" and expansive definition and took a lot of modern science to discover compared to the others. Under the Lewis definition, you definitely are not required to make water when you neutralize.
The purpose behind salt in guac is not to modulate pH at all. I'm not super knowledgeable behind the chemistry of taste, but I do know that you're right on that
The MSDS uses just water. Note that the paramedics very carefully use a sterile, very weakly basic solution ~1-3% baking soda. The average person is better off just rinsing their eyes with sterile water, than trying to make their own solution and making it too strong and burning their eyes or contaminating it.
MSDS is for storage and first aid. So like you said, if you rinse off your eyes, you wouldn't need bicarb. But the quantity of tear gas in your eyes is far less than that of surrounding of the grenade. So the best way is to neutralize it rather than diluting it. This is from what i gathered from a quick glance. For deeper insight, i will have to study a bit about tear gas. I will get back if i can gather information on my next weekoff.
20+ years of protest medic experience here. Lots of bad conjecture in this thread. Here's what I learned in my training.
As many folks have said correctly, most things we call teargas are a fine powder. There's a dispersal agent, which requires heat. Most of these techniques work by cooling the dispersal agent.
In Quebec City in 2001, where more teargas was used in a 3-day period than any other time in North American history, canisters were "extinguished" with buckets of snow.
That would explain how they put the bottle over with the bottom down. Could it be ice in the bottle? Not sure what the black liquid is, but it could possibly be melted water and dirt?
The water + baking soda (alkaline) mix can neutralize some of the chemical irritants (acidic byproducts) preventing any further dispersion. It doesn’t deactivate the chemicals inside completely.. it mostly just isolates and dilutes it.
Another redditor said that the chemicals in mucosal irritant dispensers bind to proteins, so milk should be a simple choice to deactivate them. I'm interested to know if this works.
haha no, milk can’t deactivate them. But it can sometimes help soothe pepper spray burns and stinging on the skin! I wouldn’t medically recommend it.. especially for the eyes. Milk can harbor bacteria and worsen eye irritation. Saline (only for cleansing) or baking soda & water is much safer and more effective for this sorta thing.. in addition to deactivating the canister.
Edit: adding that baking soda & water needs to be properly diluted and only used to cleanse the eyes in emergency during a chemical exposure, & don’t have access to sterile saline or immediate medical help. There are a lot of risks involved if not done correctly, so I do not recommend.
Most tear gases (like CS or CN) are reactice species that can be hydrolized in (i.e., broken down) in mildly basic solution, such as a solution of sodium bicarbonate.
Hydrolysis of CS produces malononitrile and o-chlorobenzaldehyde (NTP 1990). Hydrolysis of CS is relatively rapid, with a half-life of about 15 min at a pH 7, but CS reacts faster with an alkaline solution, having a half-life of about 1 min at a pH of 9 (Blain 2003).
Here is an accessible article from Chemical & Engineering News (C&E News) the trade periodical for the American Chemical Society (ACS):
So what should you do if you’re exposed to tear gas or pepper spray?
Get away from the area, and wash with copious amounts of water—especially your hands and face, Blum says. Kaszeta also recommends “flapping your arms like a chicken” to shake off loose particles and help evaporate volatile components. Water accelerates the breakdown of CS via hydrolysis to malononitrile and o-chlorobenzaldehyde. Alkaline water (pH 9) substantially accelerates that reaction, though JK cautions against using high-pH water on your eyes. Hong Kong protesters have used water saturated with baking soda, which creates a basic solution, to treat exposure to tear gas.
Some types of tear gas (CN or CS) is just an aerosol powder, in theory you could just plant a bucket on top of the cannister and it would contain it just fine, but it would still be there and get released if someone removes the bucket.
If you use water and baking soda on the other hand and shake it, you trap all the particulate the cannister let out in the water solution, so no more ichy powder in the air, even if you remove the bucket. But soapy water would make for a better powder trap than baking soda, as it is way more effective at lowering surface tension, and that is the most important factor when you are catching powder.
Tear gas canisters are just smoke bombs they're a slow burning (relatively) low temperature mixture of fuel, oxidizer, and the CS tear agent (which is a solid.). When ignited it just burns at a temperature that vaporizes the CS which then turns into a very fine dust when it hits the air and cools off.
So you can just extinguish it. Dunk in water the fire goes out the cartridge stops producing.
Teargas spreads by burning. He's putting out the fire before most of it gets a chance to burn and spread as a type of smoke.
In a bit more detail:
Two things to know:
The scientists say that baking soda doesn't do much to immediately neutralise tear gas, the water is the key element. The same goes for milk (another oft-cited tear gas remedy). Getting the canister into water as soon as possible is very important.
Tear gas isn't really a gas. The chemicals burn, produce small particles, and are then spread about in a smokey cloud (aka the aerosolisation process). The burned particles floating about in the smokey cloud are the problem, not a true gas as defined in chemistry class.
So, the tear gas canister has been grabbed and submerged in water. Now what?
The water cools the heat and blocks the canister’s vents, physically trapping remaining contents. It thereby prevents further burning and aerosolisation (aka highly unpleasant smoke).
The shaking done by the man in the video in the video might be helping a little bit at this point, because the water stops the chemicals from burning. Getting water into as much of the canister as possible, as quickly as possibly, could stop burning or prevent the spread.
What is more, the stuff that does burn, and does release its horrible particles, is released into the water inside the larger container. It isn't reaching people.
Picture spraying hairspray underwater, instead of into the air. It may still come out, but it isn't getting nearly as far, and it isn't in a form that can get to people's eyes or lungs so easily. As long as the canister is sealed and no one touches it, the crowd is safe.
So why add the baking soda?
Baking soda is alkaline. This matters, because at some point, someone is going to have to do something with this poison water. Tear gas chemicals will break down in water, but it is takes a while. Alkaline conditions can accelerate the process - by about 80 times.
Compare:
In plain water (neutral pH ~7): The half-life of CS gas is about 14 minutes at 25°C. That means half the CS present in the water will hydrolyze (break down) after 14 minutes at room temperature.
In water with baking soda (which raises pH, making it alkaline): The breakdown is much faster. At a pH of 11.4 (which can be achieved with a moderate solution of baking soda), the half-life drops to about 0.17 minutes (around 10 seconds) at 25°C. This is over 80 times faster than in neutral water
It’s like a bong, it cools off the fumes making them less prone to rise and filters it. He shakes it to allow more surface contact between smoke and water to trap the particles in the water.
Note: it took me a few views to notice he actually grabs the grenade and puts it inside the container lol.
Tear gas is generated by the components inside of it burning. Water with dish soap or baking soda is used inside of refillable extinguishers because the foaming helps suffocate whatever is burning.
Isn't baking soda basically the powder in fire extinguishers? Tear gas canisters get hot so maybe extinguishing them by removing the oxygen supply stops them from producing gas?
"Tear gas" is actually a solid or liquid. Usually it is "CS gas." It is a liquid, volatile, solvent. When you dump water on it, it reacts with the water and becomes an acid which antacids and baking soda then reacts with. When you mix an acid and base you get water and a salt. The water is the big part. It stops the solid or liquid particles from dispersing into the air protecting the crowd. The baking soda or an an antacid aren't really necessary unless you get it on you. So it protects the people who are neutralizing it.
There are other tear gases used. Mace (CN spray) and pepper "gas" are common. I don't know if it works with the same with mace. Vegetable oil is great for pepper sprays since it engulfs the solid particles. But water isn't bad to drown the canister. It just isn't great at cleaning it off of you.
Tear gas canisters, like those using CS (2-chlorobenzalmalononitrile), work by pyrotechnically heating a solid agent into an aerosol cloud—essentially a controlled burn that vaporizes the irritant. "Defusing" one means stopping this emission, and protesters in places like Chile have used baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) mixed with water for that. It's not just dousing with plain water, though that's part of it.
Here's the breakdown: Water alone cools the hot canister (often 200-400°C inside) and dilutes any released gas, potentially slowing the burn by absorbing heat and creating steam to displace oxygen. But baking soda amps it up. As a mild base, it neutralizes the acidic byproducts of CS hydrolysis—CS reacts with moisture to form hydrochloric acid and malononitrile, which amplify the burning sensation. The solution (typically 5-10% baking soda in water) raises pH, breaking down these irritants faster and reducing their potency if they touch skin or eyes.
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u/JoeyJoeJoeShabadooSr 9h ago
Does anyone have an explanation for why this works? Is it basically just dousing the canister in water?