Protesters complain of unexpected side effect from tear gas: Period changes

Some women and transgender men are reporting major changes to their menstrual cycles after being tear gassed at recent protests.

Some protesters have started several periods within the month of being tear gassed. There has not been much research done into the topic, but some experts say the chemical gas can cause miscarriages.

Tear gas has been deployed across the United States by police departments during anti-racism protests related to the deaths of Black individuals including George Floyd, Rayshard Brooks, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery.

A gender non-conforming person told Teen Vogue they got their period four times in one month after being tear gassed.

“For trans individuals who aren’t fond of their periods, this is a nightmare,” Charlie Stewart wrote on Twitter. “It isn’t okay for police to use chemical agents that force miscarriages and multiple periods. I demand transparency of these chemicals for everyone.”

One woman wrote on Twitter she had her period come two weeks early and another woman said she had two periods in June.

A transgender man who said he hadn’t gotten a period in a year and a half wrote on Twitter he had one after being tear gassed.

Common symptoms of exposure to tear gas are excessive tearing and blurred vision, runny and burning nose, mouth burning and irritation, skin burns and nausea and vomiting, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It does not mention any side effects related to menstruation.

Daniel Grossman, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of California San Francisco, told The Verge that tear gas has not been well studied.

“The bottom line is they’re weapons of war, and they’re designed to harm people’s bodies,” he said. “As a medical provider, I can’t condone their use on anyone.”

The Colorado Doula Project, an organization that funds abortions and provides support for women accessing abortion care, urged caution for women who are pregnant or trying to become pregnant.

“Tear gas can cause miscarriage, stillbirth and delayed menstruation,” the organization wrote in an Instagram post. “And yet police all over the country are allowed to use this chemical weapon on citizens.”

The Chilean government temporarily banned the use of tear gas in 2011 after a university study showed it can cause miscarriages and harm young children, according to the Latin America News Dispatch.

A study published in 2016 on the U.S. National Library of Medicine notes a correlation between tear gas exposure and miscarriage.

A woman named Eva Grant wrote in a HuffPost column earlier this month that she didn’t have her period for almost three months after being exposed to the chemical. Other people Grant talked to had non-stop bleeding or didn’t get their period for a full year.

“Being on the front lines of a social justice movement can be very challenging — emotionally and physically — but a year-long absence of menstruation is a serious disruption to the functions of one’s endocrine system, which can’t be accounted for by stress alone,” Grant wrote.

This story was originally published July 14, 2020 at 11:14 AM.