# Toothpaste and tear gas

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toothpaste-and-tear-gas/51726>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 25, 2001, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toothpaste-and-tear-gas/51726 "2001-01-25T15:20:03Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![davesink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cc9497/32.png) [@davesink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davesink)\
**Post date:** [January 25, 2001, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toothpaste-and-tear-gas/51726/1 "2001-01-25T15:20:03Z")

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On the cover of the Chicago Tribune today they’ve got a photo of a young Middle Eartern man (I forget the exact nationality, location, etc.) whose face is covered with a white substance. The caption states that he smeared his face with toothpaste to couteract the effects of tear gas. Does this work? I know I heard somewhere that Cher uses toothpaste on her face to fight blemishes, but this is yet another use for the stuff that I’ve never heard of.

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**Author:** ![Spiny\_Norman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Spiny\_Norman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiny_Norman)\
**Post date:** [January 25, 2001, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/toothpaste-and-tear-gas/51726/2 "2001-01-25T16:14:11Z")

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I very much doubt it.

Tear gas irritates the eyes and the mucous membranes in the mouth/nose/throat. Toothpaste on your face won’t stop you from inhaling the gas and start coughing & crying.

It might prevent irritation if a droplet of the gas actually touches the skin, but if you’re in an area with a concentration that high, you’ll be pretty well incapacitated anyway.

Of course, some people have higher tolerances than other - and once you’ve been teargassed a few times, you’ll be better able to avoid panic and the incapacitating effect is way lessened.

S. Norman