Aye Myat Mon*
Department of Ophthalmology, Myanmar
*Corresponding Author: Aye Myat Mon, Department of Ophthalmology, Myanmar.
Received: April 06, 2021; Published: August 06, 2021
Currently in Myanmar, countrywide mass protest is going on due to the military coup on February 1st 2021. Police are using violent and non-violent ways to crackdown the crowd of peaceful protesters. Among them, firing tear gas bombs is one of the daily encountering dangers for protesters in Myanmar.
Tear bombs, effective lacrimating agents, are common riot control agents worldwide for nearly a century. Tear gas is also known as CS gas since the main constituent is chlorobenzylidene malononitrile. Exposure with teargas can bring ocular, respiratory and dermatological complications. Typically, ocular and respiratory tract irritation occurs within 20 - 60s of exposure. Common eye problems include watering, redness, mild pain, blepharospasm, photophobia, blurred vision, conjunctivitis and periorbital oedema. Even corneal neovascularization, persistent conjunctivalization, corneal opacities and reduced visual acuity can be seen in some victims. Regarding respiratory problems, stinging or burning sensation in the nose, tight chest, sore throat, coughing, dyspnoea and difficulty breathing can happen due to the inhalation of teargas. It can cause skin irritation, bulla formation like in burn injury depending on the distance and duration of exposure [1,2].
Citation: Aye Myat Mon. “Tear Gas Related Health Issues Concerned among Protesters in Myanmar".Acta Scientific Ophthalmology 4.9 (2021): 15-16.
Copyright: © 2021 Aye Myat Mon. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.