DOCTORS are giving warning that police CS sprays may have to be diluted after evidence emerged that they can cause serious after-effects.
A paper published today in the Emergency Medicine Journal calls for new research on the sprays, which have been used by police since 1995, and questions the current strength of the spray solution.
The research, led by the National Poisons Information Service, looked at the use of CS sprays by police and people who had illegally armed themselves and used sprays.
Blistering and skin inflammation were significantly more common among people who had been sprayed by the police. People sprayed by officers were also more likely to be sent by GPs and hospital doctors for specialist treatment.
The “personal incapacitant” spray is used for self- defence in situations where “lethal force is inappropriate”and is supposed to have effects that clear up quickly.
Advertisement
The researchers collected information during 1998 on cases of trauma submitted from doctors to the National Poisons Information Service in London. The researchers, led by Virginia Murray, from the poisons service, concluded: “This study suggests that the CS preparation used by the UK police may cause more adverse effects than other personal incapacitant spray preparations.”
The paper suggested that further research is needed.