ABSTRACT
Determining the risk to humans intentionally or unintentionally exposed to riot control agents (RCAs) requires a careful consideration of the potential toxicity of the agent, the exposure situation, and concentrations to which the persons are exposed. A comparison of the resulting estimated external (e.g. skin surface) and internal (e.g. respiratory tract) doses with what is known of the agent’s toxicity via relevant routes of exposure allows one to characterize the risk for the population of interest (be it the target, bystanders, or those deploying the RCA). The assessment of risk is conducted in conjunction with an evaluation of an agent’s effectiveness (e.g. levels of exposure needed to achieve a desired control effect) to gain an understanding of both effectiveness and risk and how each changes with different exposure situations or conditions.
