Riot control agents treatment

An incapacitant is a chemical agent, which produces a temporary disabling condition that persists for hours to days after exposure to the agent has occurred (unlike that produced by riot control agents). Medical treatment while not essential may in some cases facilitate more rapid recovery. In the narrower sense the term has come to mean those agents that are ... 

Ballantyne, B., Riot control agents in military operations, civil disturbance control, and potential terrorist activities, with particular reference to peripheral chemosensory irritants, in Chemical Warfare Agents Toxicology and Treatment, Second Edition, Marrs, T.C., Maynard, R.L., and SideU, F.R., Eds., John Wiley Sons, Chichester, 2006a, pp. 543-612. 

However, unlike the BTWC which prohibits all uses of biological or toxin weapons for hostile purposes or in armed conflict, the CWC has a different treatment in regard to riot control agents where each State Party undertakes not to use riot control agents as a method of warfare. This is further amplified by the definition in Article II of the CWC of the words purposes not prohibited under this Convention as follows ... 

Concerns about the possible use of chemical agents in acts of terrorism have increased in the decade since the nerve agent Sarin caused a mass casualty incident in the Tokyo subway system. Chemical warfare poisons include nerve agents, vesicants, cyanides, riot control agents, and pulmonary irritants. Presenting symptoms as well as the clinical circumstances may help identify the agent and lead to effeotive treatment as well as proper decontamination. 

B. Ballantyne, Riot Control Agents in Military Operations, Civil Disturbance Control and Potential Terrorist Activities, with Particular Reference to Peripheral Chemosensory Irritants, Chemical Warfare Agents, Toxicology and Treatment, ed. T. C. Marrs, R. L. Maynard and F. R Sidell, 2nd edn, Wiley, Chichester, 2007, ch. 26, pp. 543-612. 

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