YSK: Using dairy milk after being tear gassed or pepper sprayed doesn't provide more relief and has slightly increased infection risk. Use water or saline instead

usernamesAreTricky@lemmy.ml to You Should Know@lemmy.world – 360 points –

Generally medical professionals do not vouch for using milk for tear gas despite it often being touted. The research seems to suggest they are largely the same in providing relief


Sources to back this up

That means bacteria can contaminate the milk and potentially cause infection if applied to eyes or skin wounds. Jordt says it’s better to use water or saline solutions to wash out eyes after a tear-gas attack

https://www.forbes.com/sites/marlamilling/2020/07/21/the-risks-of-using-milk-to-soothe-tear-gassed-eyes-an-expert-says-use-water-instead/


Another source of medical professionals recommending against it

https://abcnews.go.com/Health/baltimore-protests-experts-caution-milk-antacid-wash-pepper/story?id=30653488


And a study looking at pepper spray as well

In this study, there was no significant difference in pain relief provided by five different treatment regimens. [Water vs milk vs 3 other solutions] Time after exposure appeared to be the best predictor for decrease in pain.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18924005/

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The capsacin is dissolved in an oil,

That only counts for OC gas (pepper spray) - most anti-dissent chemical weaponry doesn't contain capsaicin. Milk won't do shit for CS gas, for instance. For CS gas, water is the only thing that works.

Considering how many different types of this shit there actually is and the fact that they can mix them up pretty easily regardless of what the law actually says makes a one-size-fits-all solution pretty difficult.

edit: did I just say a one-size-fits-all solution to this is difficult? Silly me.

CS gas

Science Direct website says that

In contrast to other forms of chemical exposure, irrigating the affected area will only intensify and prolong the effects of CS gas or particles.

Not sure about that paper - it recommends ocular irrigation (with water) for OC gas... the exact thing you mentioned hurting so bad in your first response. The thing to remember here is that a lot of the discourse on this doesn't distinguish between the use of a liquid to flood particles away from skin and membranes through it's kinetic action (possible with CS gas and very necessary with white phosporous) and relying on the chemical properties of the liquid itself to bring any kind of relief.