Remediating After Tear Gas or Pepper Spray
Whether through accidental discharge of pepper spray or having a home where protests are occurring, there is the potential for you living space to be bombarded by intense chemicals designed to trigger respiratory distress and troubles. If this has happened to you – it’s time to get it sorted and quick! This time on the BIOClean Team blog we’re providing a brief rundown on remediating after tear gas or pepper spray exposure!
Remediating after Tear Gas
Tear gas is used by police, typically deployed into streets, businesses or homes to disperse crowds. There are a few different types of tear gas out there, most commonly used are the “CS” “CN” and “OC” types. OC is also known as pepper spray, we’ll get to that a bit later. For now let’s look at the basic steps to remediating CS and CN tear gases.
As we said, these are the very basic steps to understand what we professionals do when we’re remediating a space after tear gas or pepper spray. We’re not going to get too into the weeds because you don’t need to know what kind of degrease-all is used and what mixture it is. If you’d like to know, by all means ask your technician and they’ll be happy to tell you exactly what goes on! We just you to understand the broad strokes.
Remediating “CS” Tear Gas
- First, ventilate the affected area completely. Keep the space cool if possible (heat can spread the gases.)
- Vacuum up the crystalline residue from the gas
- Clean everything with with proper chemicals.
- Clean and seal the HVAC system to clear the air.
Remediating “CN” Tear Gas
- Venting the area.
- Heat the area for four hours to heat of 95-105ºF. Using a HEPA air scrubber provides extra robust odor absorption.
- Ventilate the area a second time.
- Clean everything (all services and HVAC system) using the proper chemicals.
Remediating Pepper Spray
There are plenty of things to look to cleaning up after pepper spray is discharged, including your skin, eyes, and surfaces. For our purposes we’re assuming that that initial cleaning has been tackled and now we want to focus our efforts where the pepper spray chemical might linger, in the fabrics and the air. For these you can take basic efforts to clear the surfaces and materials yourself without needing to call in an expert!
- Ventilate the area. Set up active ventilation the entire time you’re working in the area to stay safe. Turn on any fans, open doors and windows, and any exhaust fans you may have.
- Remove any soft goods that are contaminated and can’t be cleaned or aren’t cost effective to do so.
- Vacuum up any residue
- Clean all soft materials (fabrics, carpets, clothing) as normal. Use a special cleaner for your laundry can help as pepper spray is made with a high oil content – it may take several washes.
- Clean and seal up your HVAC system
- Clean the carpet and furniture again as normal when everything else has been taken care of.
With all that taken care of your spaces should be back to livable! If you find the air isn’t quite as clean, as you’d like or there is a lingering odor, don’t hesitate to give the professionals a call! We know how to take care of everything for you and we are available 24/7 to provide comprehensive cleanup services!