Toxicology of Riot Control Chemicals - CS, CN and DM

Abstract : The report summarizes information on the physiological and toxicological effects of three riot control agents: CS, o-chlorobenzylidene malononitrile; CN, chloroacetophenone; and DM, dimethyl aminochloroarsine. Included in the report is a review of the toxicity tests conducted on the old compounds CN and DM by various organizations from 1918 to the present, and on CS from 1958 to the present. Detailed results of experiments conducted by various methods on animals of several species are given. Based on the animal experiments, estimates are given for lethal doses in man. Incapacitating doses are determined and reported on the basis of tolerance times of volunteers exposed to aerosols of the three compounds. Safety factors, derived from ratios of estimated lethal doses to incapacitating doses, are reported for the three compounds.