Turkish Medical Association Union's stand on the use of pepper gas and other riot control chemicals:
TTB/ riot control agents
Turkish Medical Association’s Scientific Advisory Board for Riot Control Agents
June 19, 2013
Pepper gas and other chemicals used as Riot control agencies must be classified as chemical weapons! They must be banned immediately!
Turkish Medical Associations Union (TMAU) ...and Specialists Associations Coordination Committee members worked in collaboration and prepared a scientific report on the risks of pepper gas and similar chemicals on the health of those exposed to them, which have been used intensively in Turkey during the last month because of the recent democratic uprising. “The Scientific Advisory Board for Riot Control Agents” held its first meeting on June 17, 2013 at TMAU headquarters with scientists representing their relevant professional organization for their specialty. The Board has set goals for the short middle, and long term in addition to conducting a scientific study to investigate the impact of such extensive use of these chemical on human subjects on both the users' and exposed individuals' health as well as environmental effects of such chemicals among other research questions. However, in light of the convincing data already at hand and known through public resources and medical teams that served teh medical needs of the wounded during the recent police attacks, in addition to evidence base on the topic through scientific literature, the Board has agreed upon the below statement to be shared with the national and international public:
Pepper gas and other chemicals used as Riot control agencies must be classified as chemical weapons
Oleoresin Capsicum (OC) known as pepper gas is a chemical compound like all medicines and poisons despite its organic origin. Pepper gas is a chemical substance belonging to Capsaicin group’s ““C-trans-8-methyl-N-vanillyl-
The police brutality staged in Turkey, recently, is causing serious polarization and anger in the society, which certainly is not an element of a stable, thriving society, all created with the encouragment and support of the government. Most chemical matter, including medicines is herbal in essence. All chemicals may be toxic and poisonous if they are not dosed and administered according to certain rules. Thus the chemical substances, however innocent they may be on their user's manual, become a poisonous weapon if the instructions for safe use at the recommended dosage are not followed and on the contrary they are purposefully used in ways other than they were manufactured for, which Turkish police have done generously during the last month. Massive usage of these chemicals on the society for day on end makes them a weapon of mass destruction: TMAU has established the fact that the number of the injured from the use of this new gas-weapon since May 31th 2013 is over ten thousand as of June 17th, 2013. The number individuals, who lost their eye globes and/or had serious organ injuries due to being hit directly by the shells of the tear gas (police targeted faces deliberately) and other chemical compound capsules has reached hundreds, and a dozen people are still in Intensive care units. Death toll of directly affected is 4 as of June 19th, 2013. However the number of morbidity and mortality (health comromise and deaths) due to indirect exposure has not been established, yet. The usage of tear gas and similar chemicals has lost its internationally established dissuasive quality and has become a weapon in the hands of Trkish police, which proved to bear serious health risks to the people in Turkey, setting an example for other antidemocratic regimes.
ATTENTION!
Pepper gas ( Tear gas ) and other chemical, Riot control agents must be acknowledged as chemical weapons!
They must be banned immediately as they now become a serious occupational hazard for those who use it too.
The universal definition of occupational diseases is the health problems caused by repetitive exposure to triggers, conditions or substances in line of work that are detrimental to health.
Law enforcement agents who have to continuously use these tear gas and other chemical substances, the press-media workers who has to follow the events, the medical personnel who are called to these incidents, people who work around the area where Riots take place, street cleaners, area shop owners and etc are now under serious occupational health threat. Little is known on long term chronic effects of these chemicals on human health but experiments on animals which has shown serious genetic changes and cancerous effects can help give us an idea about the dangers. Pepper gas and alike causes various diseases of the eyes, pulmonary system, cardiovascular system, liver and reproductive organs on both the user and the exposed in the short and the long term.
Thus above mentioned professions are now under more risk of cancer, otherwise inexplicable diseases and birth defects due to the effects of those chemicals on genetics. Use of gas masks by the law enforcement agents, journalists and cameramen and others do not present 100% protection to these people from the chronic effects. No matter how high quality the masks are, there still may be leaks caused by poor fitting. Besides even the best masks in the market can only hold 99% of the particles bigger than 0.3 micron. In a heavily affected area these people are under great risk because of that 1% we cannot underestimate and from the particles that are smaller than 0.3 micron. Government frequently announces that the pepper gas has been manufactured with the latest technologies. The current latest technology is nanotechnology if the pepper gas is produced by that technology then there is a big chance that the gas people were exposed has all particles under 0.3 micron (UFP-nanoparticles). If that is the case, inexplicable heart attacks, strokes and cancers would be inevitable for those who were over exposed. Pepper gas should be acknowledged as a chemical weapon since it has qualities that are detrimental to health of those who are exposed including the users, it should be banned immediately.
Finally, European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment ( CPT) has declared on their Netherlands report in 2007 that the tear gas is a potentially dangerous substance when used in confined spaces, that should it be used in open areas under certain circumstances, the availability of immediate health control and necessary treatments must be ensured also. Contrary to these, in our country pepper gas has been thrown on those who are not part of the protests in any way, pregnant ladies, children, elderly in their homes, hotels, shopping malls and even underground subway stations on purpose and thus our people have been experiencing unprecedented violence for days. We are urgently inviting United Nations, World Health Organization, World Medical Association and European Parliament leaders and workers to help put a stop to this inhuman crime by enforcing the warnings they have made via letters and media. Hereby we respectfully would like to share with our country and the people of the World that we are urgently calling the United Nations, World Health Organization, World Medical Association and all other related institutions to start working towards an immediate global ban on use of pepper gas and other chemical riot control agents and that they should be categorized as chemical weapons.See More
TTB/ riot control agents
Turkish Medical Association’s Scientific Advisory Board for Riot Control Agents
June 19, 2013
Pepper gas and other chemicals used as Riot control agencies must be classified as chemical weapons! They must be banned immediately!
Turkish Medical Associations Union (TMAU) ...and Specialists Associations Coordination Committee members worked in collaboration and prepared a scientific report on the risks of pepper gas and similar chemicals on the health of those exposed to them, which have been used intensively in Turkey during the last month because of the recent democratic uprising. “The Scientific Advisory Board for Riot Control Agents” held its first meeting on June 17, 2013 at TMAU headquarters with scientists representing their relevant professional organization for their specialty. The Board has set goals for the short middle, and long term in addition to conducting a scientific study to investigate the impact of such extensive use of these chemical on human subjects on both the users' and exposed individuals' health as well as environmental effects of such chemicals among other research questions. However, in light of the convincing data already at hand and known through public resources and medical teams that served teh medical needs of the wounded during the recent police attacks, in addition to evidence base on the topic through scientific literature, the Board has agreed upon the below statement to be shared with the national and international public:
Pepper gas and other chemicals used as Riot control agencies must be classified as chemical weapons
Oleoresin Capsicum (OC) known as pepper gas is a chemical compound like all medicines and poisons despite its organic origin. Pepper gas is a chemical substance belonging to Capsaicin group’s ““C-trans-8-methyl-N-vanillyl-
The police brutality staged in Turkey, recently, is causing serious polarization and anger in the society, which certainly is not an element of a stable, thriving society, all created with the encouragment and support of the government. Most chemical matter, including medicines is herbal in essence. All chemicals may be toxic and poisonous if they are not dosed and administered according to certain rules. Thus the chemical substances, however innocent they may be on their user's manual, become a poisonous weapon if the instructions for safe use at the recommended dosage are not followed and on the contrary they are purposefully used in ways other than they were manufactured for, which Turkish police have done generously during the last month. Massive usage of these chemicals on the society for day on end makes them a weapon of mass destruction: TMAU has established the fact that the number of the injured from the use of this new gas-weapon since May 31th 2013 is over ten thousand as of June 17th, 2013. The number individuals, who lost their eye globes and/or had serious organ injuries due to being hit directly by the shells of the tear gas (police targeted faces deliberately) and other chemical compound capsules has reached hundreds, and a dozen people are still in Intensive care units. Death toll of directly affected is 4 as of June 19th, 2013. However the number of morbidity and mortality (health comromise and deaths) due to indirect exposure has not been established, yet. The usage of tear gas and similar chemicals has lost its internationally established dissuasive quality and has become a weapon in the hands of Trkish police, which proved to bear serious health risks to the people in Turkey, setting an example for other antidemocratic regimes.
ATTENTION!
Pepper gas ( Tear gas ) and other chemical, Riot control agents must be acknowledged as chemical weapons!
They must be banned immediately as they now become a serious occupational hazard for those who use it too.
The universal definition of occupational diseases is the health problems caused by repetitive exposure to triggers, conditions or substances in line of work that are detrimental to health.
Law enforcement agents who have to continuously use these tear gas and other chemical substances, the press-media workers who has to follow the events, the medical personnel who are called to these incidents, people who work around the area where Riots take place, street cleaners, area shop owners and etc are now under serious occupational health threat. Little is known on long term chronic effects of these chemicals on human health but experiments on animals which has shown serious genetic changes and cancerous effects can help give us an idea about the dangers. Pepper gas and alike causes various diseases of the eyes, pulmonary system, cardiovascular system, liver and reproductive organs on both the user and the exposed in the short and the long term.
Thus above mentioned professions are now under more risk of cancer, otherwise inexplicable diseases and birth defects due to the effects of those chemicals on genetics. Use of gas masks by the law enforcement agents, journalists and cameramen and others do not present 100% protection to these people from the chronic effects. No matter how high quality the masks are, there still may be leaks caused by poor fitting. Besides even the best masks in the market can only hold 99% of the particles bigger than 0.3 micron. In a heavily affected area these people are under great risk because of that 1% we cannot underestimate and from the particles that are smaller than 0.3 micron. Government frequently announces that the pepper gas has been manufactured with the latest technologies. The current latest technology is nanotechnology if the pepper gas is produced by that technology then there is a big chance that the gas people were exposed has all particles under 0.3 micron (UFP-nanoparticles). If that is the case, inexplicable heart attacks, strokes and cancers would be inevitable for those who were over exposed. Pepper gas should be acknowledged as a chemical weapon since it has qualities that are detrimental to health of those who are exposed including the users, it should be banned immediately.
Finally, European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment ( CPT) has declared on their Netherlands report in 2007 that the tear gas is a potentially dangerous substance when used in confined spaces, that should it be used in open areas under certain circumstances, the availability of immediate health control and necessary treatments must be ensured also. Contrary to these, in our country pepper gas has been thrown on those who are not part of the protests in any way, pregnant ladies, children, elderly in their homes, hotels, shopping malls and even underground subway stations on purpose and thus our people have been experiencing unprecedented violence for days. We are urgently inviting United Nations, World Health Organization, World Medical Association and European Parliament leaders and workers to help put a stop to this inhuman crime by enforcing the warnings they have made via letters and media. Hereby we respectfully would like to share with our country and the people of the World that we are urgently calling the United Nations, World Health Organization, World Medical Association and all other related institutions to start working towards an immediate global ban on use of pepper gas and other chemical riot control agents and that they should be categorized as chemical weapons.See More
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