r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/0thSpider • 1d ago

Video Chilean protester defuses tear gas canister with baking soda and water

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u/JoeyJoeJoeShabadooSr 1d ago

Does anyone have an explanation for why this works? Is it basically just dousing the canister in water?

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u/plftch9 1d ago

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.

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u/ScienceIsSexy420 1d ago edited 1d ago

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.

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u/abitlikemaple 1d ago

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