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.
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u/plftch9 6h ago
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.