Lacrymos du sang collects over 10,000 testimonies on menstrual changes after tear gas exposure

In France, the collective of activists and medical professionals Lacrymos du sang reported receiving more than 10,000 testimonies within several weeks from protesters and passers-by regarding changes in menstrual cycles after contact with tear gas. The reports indicated more severe pain and heavier bleeding. This was reported by France 24.

The collective plans to publish the survey results on November 17. Midwife Johanne Voahangi-Nirina noted that reports also came from women who had not participated in demonstrations but lived, shopped, or walked near areas where gas was deployed. She suggested that stress might not be the only explanation for these complaints.

The Lacrymos du sang initiative was inspired by a study conducted in Portland after the Black Lives Matter protests in the United States in 2020. In that survey of 2,200 individuals, over half reported experiencing cramps, heavier bleeding, and other health issues following exposure to tear gas. This was the first peer-reviewed scientific paper to establish a link between contact with the gas and menstrual disorders.

Solenne Rougeaux Fernandez Garcia, a neuroendocrinology researcher at Paris-Saclay University, explained that the CS compound found in most tear gases, including those used by French police, breaks down in the body into several substances. One of these may disrupt thyroid function, and she also associated severe menstrual pain with the direct activation of pain receptors by the CS compound.

French police extensively used tear gas during a protest movement that began over school conditions and escalated amid the cost-of-living crisis. On October 17 alone, law enforcement fired 22,000 canisters. Witnesses at various demonstrations accused police of deploying gas without warning, including in narrow streets, near schools, and in the Paris metro.

In 2020, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights cautioned that the extensive use of tear gas could lead to tissue necrosis in the respiratory and digestive systems, pulmonary edema, and internal bleeding. A lawmaker from the France Unbowed party urged the government to suspend gas usage pending further research. The collective also received reports of miscarriages linked to gas exposure, although researchers have not yet confirmed such a connection.