2004 IDF study: High concentrations of tear gas could be lethal
Hundreds of Palestinians and Israelis are expected in Bil'in on Friday for weekly demonstration, which will be preceded by a memorial service for Jawaher Abu Rahmah.
By Anshel Pfeffer Tags: IDFThe Israel Defense Forces continues to insist that the CS tear gas it uses to disperse demonstrations is safe, though it is still investigating last week’s death of Jawaher Abu Rahmah, which Palestinians blame on tear gas fired by Israeli soldiers.
The IDF is looking into other possibilities, including that she died due to a preexisting illness.
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Soldiers firing tear gas grenades at demonstrators near the West Bank village of Bil'in in December. |
| Photo by: AP |
Seven years ago, the IDF Medical Corps published a study on CS gas in both the Israeli medical journal “Refuah” and the overseas journal “Archives of Toxicology.”
That study, based on animal experiments, concluded that to kill a person, you would need a dose 800 to 5,600 times larger than the quantities used to disperse demonstrations.
Nevertheless, it added, a high concentration of the gas in a given location could cause serious or even lethal harm, and therefore, the gas cannot be considered innocuous.
Over the last year the IDF has begun using a tear gas grenade launcher in Bil’in, the Ringo, that allows them to shoot six canisters at once into the same place, creating a thick cloud of gas. The Palestinians say Abu Rahmah was caught in such a cloud.
When Haaretz contacted some of the doctors involved in the Medical Corps study, they declined to comment, saying the study was not necessarily relevant to today’s conditions.
The study “approved the way the IDF used tear gas then and determined that it was not life-threatening,” one explained. “If the way the gas is used has changed, and especially in a manner that creates much higher concentrations, it’s necessary to do a new study.”
The IDF Spokesman responded that soldiers use the Ringo only “in compliance with the binding professional orders for using this weapon, and with the rules of engagement applicable under the circumstances. CS gas is less poisonous than other tear gases. Therefore, it is the tear gas commonly used worldwide.”
Moreover, it said, the study found that “treating people exposed to CS gas is simple, and any medical crew can treat victims of the gas with simple and readily available medical means.” Therefore, it concluded, there is no reason “to change the policy for using the gas.”
On Friday, hundreds of Palestinians and Israelis are expected to come to Bil’in for the weekly demonstration, which will be preceded by a memorial ceremony for Abu Rahmah.
The IDF, for its part, is expected to try to exercise maximum restraint, and senior officers from the Judea and Samaria Division will personally oversee efforts to keep the demonstrators from vandalizing the fence.
Meanwhile, an IDF inquiry into a separate matter − Sunday’s fatal shooting of a Palestinian at a Jordan Valley checkpoint − concluded that the soldiers acted properly even though the man proved not to be a threat, as he was holding what appeared to be a knife (it was actually a bottle) and did not heed repeated warnings to stop.
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criminals ... the IDF is the danger not the tear gas!
In fact, "could" even allows to say "anything could be lethal".
The IDF continues to implant this idea that she died because of other reasons in the minds of people. A lie told often enough can become the truth right??
The symptoms of frothing at the mouth, shaking, then fainting suggest an epileptic fit. Earlier reports indicate that the victim underwent a brain scan ( detailed result unpublished) at a hospital in the PA some time before the incident at Bil'in so pre-existing disease seems likely. Short of exhuming the body for forensic examination, the true cause of death is unlikely to be fixed. In any event, people will beleive what they want regardless of facts or reasoned probabilities.
The brain scan results were normal, according to her doctors.
first of all the tear gas was fired before any stones were thrown, tthe IDF provoked the stone throwers, but you people just assume that jews are always innocent. the fact is they knew that the tear gas was lethal, and they fired alot of tear gas into the protestors. i would like to see them use the tear gas against heir own protestors in tel aviv, i bet they dont do anythign to them. the gas was made for the pals. lets see if this gets posted. i have a feeling it wont.
This is murder.
The IDF has already been shown to use tear gas weapons in ways they were not intended, like shooting people in the face with them. Logic prevails. Tear gas can be deadly if used wrong. The IDF uses tear gas wrong all the time. A woman dies when tear gas is used wrong. The IDF Is to blame. Expect article next week: IDF clears all soldiers in investigation of tear gas death--all in compliance. Then will come protests and pressure, and eventually, 3 years down the line, it will be shown that the IDF did not use the tear gas correctly, and it was directly responsible for this woman's death (who may not have even been part of the demonstration), but no soldiers will be charged and none of the IDF's behavior will have changed.
The article actually states that the study "concluded that to kill a person, you would need a dose 800 to 5,600 times larger than the quantities used to disperse demonstrations". while the Ringo is much more intense than the Federal, it is SIX times the norm, NOT EIGHT HUNDRED. As Jasper from Milwaukee implied, one can conclude that 800 times the concentration of perfume in a room could be lethal--especially if you have asthma.
...have a far higher probability of causing death than teargas...
As someone who has been through tear gas several times in the US military, as were millions of others, I defy anyone to find the fatalities. You have to have a serious underlying condition to die from this stuff. BTW, can any of you read? The study says 800 to 5600 times the dosage. Are you saying that all of Israel's exisitng supply of tear gas was dropped simultaneously at the feet of this woman? And that there was no wind?
IDF sounds like American health insurance companies who try hard to pass the buck.
THEY SHOOT MULTIPLES. THAT CAN'T BEE SAFE
If tear gas was a particularly lethal substance, there would be dead bodies piled up all over Biilin every week.
This is a video of US Marines being trained by having their position covered with tear gas. In the rest of the video you see them marching 2 miles through thick clouds of gas. No one died doing this. Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3geGo3QE7F8 The original article about that woman describes her being far from the demonstrators so even if she inhaled some gas there is no way she had more than the people in the center of the demonstration, who are all still alive apparently. Sounds like BS to me.
On videos of the Bilin demonstration it can be clearly seen that the IDF were shooting large clouds of gas even when the demonstrators were far away. The very fact that infants have died in E Jerusalem from gas canisters thrown into homes (with no warning) should be enough to convince anyone of the toxicity of this gas when used in confined areas or large doses.
Well, it doesn't kill "everybody". Not everybody gets cancer from it. Some even beat the cancers. But look, what's written on cigarette packs: "Smoking kills". That tear gas can also kill. IDF knew it since 6 years. And don't hesitate to overuse it.
How many deaths due to tear gas have there ever been? You people will believe anything that the Palestinians claim to make Israel, and the IDF, look bad. The 'massacre' in Jenin is just the worst example. Tear gas is used all over the world every day to non-lethally disperse riots. The fact is that you are against Israel defending itself in anyway. Build a fence to stop SUICIDE BOMBERS and you there are violent protests. Use tear gas and you claim its poison. Did the IDF also steal her organs for the black market? That claim can't be too far behind.
If the same standard were applied in Israel as is applied to Gaza, all of Israel would be under blockade.
that they do not succeeed is because Israelis take shelter.
and no one will be hurt. Throwing rocks or other objects and damaging the fence is not "peaceful protest" and will be responded to by the police.