Essex Police were today holding fire after a review of CS sprays used to incapacitate criminals said they should be withdrawn.
A report published today in the Emergency Medicine Journal suggested the sprays could be far more harmful than originally thought.
The report claimed skin irritation and inflammation were significantly more common among people sprayed by the police.
The sprays, used for self-defence in situations where lethal force is inappropriate, combine O-chlorobenzylidine malononitrile dissolved in the solvent methyl isobutyl ketone.
Essex Police, whose officers use the sprays for self-defence in situations "where lethal force is inappropriate," will now wait for a review into their use by the Association of Chief Police Officers.
A spokesman said: "We will wait for the review to see how we use the sprays in the future. The Association will carry out the review to save all the separate forces doing the same thing at the same time."
The researchers collected information on spray trauma cases submitted to the National Poisons Information Service in London for the first nine months of 1998.
Of 152 cases where the circumstances of exposure were identified, 93 were the result of an encounter with the police. The remainder had been sprayed by other people.
Published Tuesday August 24, 2004
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