Irregular periods, heavy bleeding caused by police use of tear gas, dozens say in suit

Dozens of people experienced irregular periods after tear gas and other chemical weapons were used by law enforcement during protests in western New York in 2020, according to a new federal lawsuit.

The dayslong protests against police brutality in September 2020 in Rochester were in response to the death of Daniel Prude, who died a week after he suffocated while being pinned to the ground by police officers, the lawsuit says. Demonstrations in the city began after footage of the 41-year-old Black man’s encounter with police was made public on Sept. 2, 2020, months after he died, the New York Times reported.

Police in Rochester fired chemical weapons, including tear gas, at those protesting the city’s “brutal policing practices,,” according to a complaint filed Sept. 5 in Rochester federal court. The complaint says the demonstrations followed nationwide protests in support of racial justice that year.

Out of several people exposed to tear gas, pepper spray, pepper balls and other weapons deployed by Rochester authorities, at least 38 people noticed changes in their menstrual cycles afterward, the complaint says.

The most common irregularities were heavier cramps and bleeding, abnormal spotting, and longer than normal bleeding, according to the complaint. Of those who didn’t have regular periods to begin with — due to hormone therapy or age — they experienced unexpected bleeding and spotting, the complaint says.

With their lawsuit, the 38 people argue police use of chemical weapons, which they say violated their civil rights, caused their irregular periods.

The plaintiffs are suing the city of Rochester, members of the Rochester Police Department, Monroe County, as well as county Sheriff Todd Baxter and deputies.

“Defendants knew or should have known that these chemical weapons — which are banned in warfare — can cause serious physical harm, including damage to the female reproductive system,” the complaint says.

Barbara Pierce, Rochester’s director of communications, told McClatchy News in a statement that the city has not been served with the lawsuit as of Sept. 11.

“We have reviewed a copy of the complaint and the facts and the plaintiffs in this case are identical to those in an existing action filed in state court,” Pierce said. She didn’t comment further on the case.

Monroe County declined to comment on the lawsuit, as it doesn’t comment on pending litigation, Gary Walker, the county’s communications director, told McClatchy News in a statement on Sept. 11.

McClatchy News also contacted the Rochester Police Department and the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office for comment on Sept. 11 and didn’t receive immediate responses.

How is tear gas related to menstruation?

Tear gas, a riot control agent used by law enforcement, is composed of chemical compounds that can irritate the eyes, mouth, throat, lungs and skin after someone is exposed to it through the air, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“If symptoms go away soon after a person is removed from exposure to riot control agents, long-term health effects are unlikely to occur,” the CDC says.

Long-term health effects as result of exposure to these riot control chemicals, include eye scarring, glaucoma, cataracts and asthma, according to the CDC.

The lawsuit cites several news reports published from June 2020 to August 2020 that explore the possible connection between tear gas used on protesters and subsequent reported menstrual irregularities.

In one June 2020 media report, Dr. Gillian Dean, who is now the chief medical officer for Planned Parenthood of Greater New York, told Bustle there is “currently limited research on the relationship between exposure to tear gas and reproductive health, including spontaneous menstruation, miscarriage, and other complications.”

“Still, it’s important to keep in mind that ‘(t)hough tear gas is considered ‘nonlethal,’ it can still pose a threat to both health and safety,” Dean added.

Because of these earlier reports from that summer, the complaint argues that before the September 2020 protests in Rochester, “defendants had clear notice that the use of teargas and other chemical weapons causes damage to women’s reproductive health, including menstrual irregularities and miscarriages.”

A study later published April 2021 in BMC Public Health surveyed 2257 adults who reported recent exposure to tear gas in Portland, Oregon. The adults were surveyed July 30, 2020 to Aug. 20, 2020.

Of those surveyed, 899 reported menstrual changes after tear gas exposure.

“There remains the possibility that tear gas agents have endocrine-disrupting activity,” study authors wrote. “The widespread anecdotal and lay media reports of menstrual changes by protesters after exposure to tear gas agents and in this study may warrant further research on potential endocrine effects of tear gas agents.”

“It is essential to determine if (chemical riot control) agents can act as endocrine disruptors with the potential to impact reproductive health,” study authors added.

More on the lawsuit

In addition to irregular periods, the complaint says authorities in Rochester caused the 38 plaintiffs to suffer physical pain from the use of pepper balls and batons as riot control methods — as well as mental and emotional damages — during the protests over Prude’s death and police brutality.

The lawsuit looks to “hold (Rochester) and (Monroe County) liable…for their unlawful policies of responding to protesters exercising their First Amendment rights with extreme and unnecessary force,” the complaint says.

The plaintiffs are seeking relief, including compensatory and punitive damages.

Rochester officers involved in detaining Prude were not charged following an investigation into his death, the New York Times reported.

Prude was taken off life support on March 30, 2020, one week after he experienced an apparent mental health episode and was handcuffed and pinned to the ground by officers, according to the newspaper. After Prude started spitting, officers covered his headwith a hood and pressed his face to the ground, resulting in him asphyxiating and needing resuscitation, the New York Times reported.

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