Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Unknown "teargas" reaction

FreedomFighter - 23-11-2007 at 08:38

Hello, in the documentary "His big white self" a former member of the AWB makes infront of the cameras as demonstration some
kind of "tear gas" by simply mixing a formaldehyde solution and an unknown chemical (actualy he says its name
but I cannot understand what is it, may be because I'm not English or may he says the Afrikaneer name of the chemical) that
looks like a typical iodine solution a bit more rediss, as soon as the chemicals came in contact the mixture started fizzing
and giving white fumes. I've done extensive shearching on google and on this forum with no result ¿Anyone here knows what
chemical X is it and what gas does this reaction yields?

Sorry for my bad english and thanks in advance.

Sauron - 23-11-2007 at 10:57

Insufficient information to hazard a guess.

Most "tear gases" are not gases at all. CS and CN are both solids.

Many substances are lachrymatory but only a few are satisfactory as "tear gases" for military or civil law enforcement purposes.

Ironically these useful and non-lethal agents are now classified as "cheamical warfare agents" under the utterly stupid and useless CWC treaty organization. Go figure.

The red solution could be a lot of things, but bromine comes to mind.

Some possibilities: bromoacetone was an early teargas but found to be too toxic and passed out of fashion early on, replaced by CN (chloroacetophenone).

But, lots of things are red and irritating.

FreedomFighter - 23-11-2007 at 14:28

Quote:
Originally posted by Sauron
Insufficient information to hazard a guess.

Most "tear gases" are not gases at all. CS and CN are both solids.

Many substances are lachrymatory but only a few are satisfactory as "tear gases" for military or civil law enforcement purposes.

Ironically these useful and non-lethal agents are now classified as "cheamical warfare agents" under the utterly stupid and useless CWC treaty organization. Go figure.

The red solution could be a lot of things, but bromine comes to mind.

Some possibilities: bromoacetone was an early teargas but found to be too toxic and passed out of fashion early on, replaced by CN (chloroacetophenone).

But, lots of things are red and irritating.


This agent was used by the AWB, a paramilitary group, to disrupt black demonstrations in South Africa, so I think they didn't care a lot if it was too toxic...

Sauron - 23-11-2007 at 18:37

There's only my thinnest surmise re bromine and no mention of acetone. If you have a reason for wanting to know what this supposed lachrymator was, I suggest you view the documentary again and make a concerted effort to catch the name of the other component(s).

Boer militias like AWB were often aided and abetted (if not organized) by the government of S.Africa or the National Party, which were pretty much the same thing till de Klerk handed everything to the ANC. Cry, the beloved country, indeed.

I think AWB was mostly active in Transvaal.