Letters | Have Hong Kong protests and police tear gas taken a severe toll on the environment and wildlife?

Hong Kong protests

Letters

Published: 7:15am, 1 Dec 2019

Why you can trust SCMP

A banner is unfurled bearing the words “Warning: Tear Smoke” in both Chinese and English, quickly followed by metal canisters and trails of smoke raining down on protesters. Stinging, choking clouds of smoke have become common sights on Hong Kong streets. Equipped with gas masks, the protesters have found ways to protect themselves, but how about the local environment and wildlife?

The use of tear gas in Hong Kong has been controversial and there are worries about its health effects, and about tear gas-contaminated food (“Parents, children in march against health hazards of tear gas”, November 23). Clinical effects for humans include inflammation and irritation to the skin, eyes and airways, while people with existing respiratory ailments are at higher risk. But little is known about the effects of tear gas on animals and the environment.

Tear gas was outlawed for military use under the Geneva Protocol of 1925, yet remains a popular form of riot control worldwide. The Hong Kong Police Force use a form of tear gas known as o-chlorobenzylidene malononitrile (CS for short). The long-term effects of the irritant powder on wildlife and environment health remain unclear, while images and videos of purportedly lifeless birds after supposed exposure to tear gas have been circulating online in Hong Kong.

Given the sensitivity of birds to respiratory irritants, it comes as no surprise that such avian deaths may have occurred due to direct contact with tear gas. In fact, a 1972 study on rodents and guinea pigs found that exposure to high concentrations of CS gas can result in death due to severe lung damage.

Hong Kong to pay for politics of tear gas and anarchy

A Hong Kong reporter was recently diagnosed with chloracne after tear gas exposure. How, then, does it affect the environment? Immediate effects can be observed, but long-term studies are limited. It will be useful to know the animal death toll in Hong Kong due to exposure to CS.

Further environmental damage is contributed through the cutting down of trees, use of petrol bombs and the incineration of objects by protesters, especially plastics, which also pose severe harm to the environment.

Burning plastic releases dangerous chemicals into the air such as hydrochloric acid, dioxins and particulates, which are all highly toxic to humans and the environment.

Appropriate and collaborative government action to address and resolve these issues should be of primary concern.

Christopher Lau, student, MSc Environmental Science and Management Programme, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

Anti-government protesters take materials including fencing from a construction site on Queen’s Road East, on August 31. Such sites, with their accompanying drilling and jackhammering, are ubiquitous around Hong Kong. Photo: Handout

Elections are over, time to focus on life in the city

Now that the dust is settling after the district council elections, can we hope to see some fundamental changes on environmental and housing issues?

All over the world, concerns about the environment are growing, and there is no reason to believe that Hong Kong is any different.

So can we expect stringent measures to ensure all taxis and buses are electric at the earliest? Also can we please stop the fawning over developers and see an end to horrific noise from jackhammers and drilling on weekends? These intrusions are quite unacceptable in a civilised society.

Similarly, motor bikes that make excessive noise should be subject to regulation and enforcement.

All plastic bags should be banned, not simply charged for.

All these suggestions should be on top of a huge plan to build affordable housing and to help first-time buyers find the necessary deposits.

The last few months have been a wake-up call for the government. Let us please see some positive responses from the newly elected district councillors, as well as the government.

If it be said that we cannot afford these measures, which I doubt, then surely the time has come to introduce a very modest tax on dividend income.

Neil Kaplan, Central

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