A recent US study suggests a link between exposure to tear gas and menstrual disturbances. Nothing is certain yet, but the fact is that this study has gathered a quantity of data on the subject never equaled before.
A team of researchers from the Northwest Permanente P.C. medical group in the United States published a study in the journal BMC Public Health on April 26, 2021. Several months earlier, scientists had launched an appeal for witnesses concerning the possible links between exposure to tear gas and the onset of menstrual disturbances. Out of 1,650 people surveyed , 54.5% reported feeling effects on their menstrual health after being exposed to this type of gas. Among these individuals, there were women, transsexual men, non-binaries (genderqueer) as well as people who did not wish to reveal their gender. However, 604 of them claimed to have felt more violent menstrual cramps and painful. No less than 459 spoke of unusual discharge, and 300 of heavier and longer bleeding.
In reality, the 1,650 respondents were part of a total of 2,257 people who participated in Black Lives Matter protests in Portland, Oregon between July 30 and July 20. August 2020. The study was originally interested in the short- and medium-term effects tear gas. According to the researchers, the study quickly refocused after the arrival of numerous testimonies concerning disturbances of menstrual cycles and warnings about miscarriages.
The study leaders raised two hypotheses that could explain the link between tear gas and menstrual disturbances. The first concerns a high dose of stress directly related to gas exposure. However, the researchers point out that certain functions related to reproduction are sensitive to stressful situations. It may then be a question of cortisol stimulation which can disrupt the hormonal balance, and thus cause menstrual disturbances.
The second hypothesis concerns the CS gas (chlorobenzylidene malonitrile), an irritant component widely used in tear gas in the United States. However, this CS gas would metabolize into thiocyanate and cyanide ions in the body and thus play an endocrine disruptor role. Remember in passing that cyanide is known to prevent living tissue from using the oxygen present in the blood.
Despite the study, it is still far too early to firmly conclude a link between exposure to tear gas and menstrual disturbances. Scientists agree that other more advanced work should see the light of day in order to provide certainty on this subject. On the other hand, they described as alarming the amount of data collected in the testimonies. In other words, it is a real call – for the scientific community – to seriously consider the issue.
