Chemistry Students Create Hazardous Materials Guide To Help Protesters Stay Safe

When recent chemistry graduate Bella Ballin heard about police using chemical agents at a Black Lives Matter protest in her hometown, she felt a particular call to action. 

She knew she could use her training as a chemist to help people protect themselves while exercising their right to protest. 

Working with fellow chemistry majors Cali Colliver, Will Fahy, Che Olavarria Gallegos, Jon Goodstein, Jolie Miller, Frances Moore, Sara Nevins, Emily Schneider and Katie Ziegler, the students created a guide to let people know what to do if they are exposed to chemical irritants at a protest. 

Each student researched the most effective and practical ways to treat common agents like tear gas and pepper spray. The group fact checked all of the sources, focusing on peer-reviewed studies and information from biomedical research agencies, including the National Institutes of Health and Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Inc. 

For instance, the guide advises flushing your eyes with water in all cases, getting upwind of tear gas and using milk to relieve pepper spray symptoms (though they note milk will not help with tear gas). The guide also encourages protesters to purchase protective eyewear rated Z87+ and to cover most of their body with clothes. 

“Before we start an experiment in a chemistry lab, we have to write up a hazard analysis for everything in the experiment,” said Colliver. This requires a lot of independent research — a skill that came in handy for creating the guide. 

Ballin herself has worked with capsaicin, the active compound in peppers that gives them their spicy kick. Pepper spray uses this same compound. Because it’s an oil-like compound, capsaicin repels water but is soluble in dairy-based products, like milk. 

The group circulated the guide on social media, where others then began to share it. CMU mechanical engineering alumna Diya Nuxoll included the guide in a Google doc that she compiled of safe protesting tips for CMU students. Another CMU community member used optical character recognition to produce a text-only version of the guide for the visually impaired. 

“The students identified that they have expertise as chemists that a lot of people don’t and they could use that knowledge to protect a much larger number of people,” said Associate Professor of Chemistry Stefanie Sydlik, who has mentored and taught some of the guide’s creators. “I was really proud that they were able to use the knowledge that they gained at CMU to amplify their voices and contribute to the greater good.”

Getting the guide out there “was important to all of us because we want to make sure everyone can have their voices heard at these protests and stay safe in case chemical weapons are used on them,” noted Colliver. 

“#BlackLivesMatter is a movement to make changes against an issue in my community,” added Ballin. “It’s really difficult to have so much pent up energy and emotion in something and to feel like you aren’t doing everything you can …. using our training as chemists felt like another way I could contribute.”

 

♦ by Emily Payne