Riot control agents characteristics

A. Incapacitating agents are chemicals which produce a temporary disabling condition that persists for hours to days after exposure to the agent has ceased (unlike that produced by riot control agents). While not required, medical treatment produces a more rapid recovery. Characteristics of these agents are ... 

Two characteristics make this class of compounds unique among the riot control agents. The first is that the effects do not appear immediately on exposure or seconds afterwards, but several minutes later. In the absence of symptoms, a soldier will not mask immediately by the time he masks, he will have absorbed a significant amount. The effects may then cause him to unmask. 

The riot control agent known as CA (bromobenzylcyanide) was the last irritating agent introduced by the Allies in World War I, and it was the most potent. It corrodes iron and steel, is not chemically stable in storage, and is sensitive to heat, all characteristics that made it unsuitable for storage and use in artillery shells.50... 

Appendix B Physical Characteristics of the Major Chemical Warfare and Riot Control Agents... 

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