Welcome to Brainstuff from house Stuff Works dot Com, where smart happens him Marshall Brain with today's question, what does tear gas do? Tear gas is used both by the police for crowd control and by individuals for self defense. There are three kinds of tear gas in common use.
First there's CN, which is often sold as mace. Then there's CS, which is stronger than CN but wears off more quickly, and finally there's pepper spray made from cap sasan from chili peppers mixed with a vehicle like corn oil. Tear gas that you hear about on the news, in the form of CN or CS is often used by law enforcement when they face a combative crowd. The tear gas is launched in the form of grenades or aerosol cans, so the liquid becomes an aerosol. Both CN and CS
are irritants. They irritate mucus membranes and the eyes, nose, mouth, and lungs and cause tearing, sneezing, coughing, and so on. Pepper spray is an inflammatory agent that causes inflammation in the eyes, nose, and mouth. Its effect is more debilitating, but you have to hit someone with it directly for it to be effective. This makes it more useful for self defense because you can spray your assailant in the face with it. It's also useful against attacking dogs and bearers.
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