The police admitted  that their tear gas may discharge dioxin but even more so from burning plastic. The monitoring of dioxin content released into the environment is a cause for concern, as the Environmental Protection Department has yet to publish their data from September onwards.

According to the Department’s current data, the dioxin content released into the surroundings in June this year was the same as the past two years, which was 0.01 pg I-TEQ/m3; and while there was only a difference of 0.01 when compared with data in July and August in the previous four years, the dioxin content jumped dramatically in July and August this year, being both 0.027 and 0.022 respectively.

It is rumoured that the tear gas rounds the police currently deploy are produced in China, which releases a high content of dioxin. Police Senior Superintendent Wong Wai-Shun from the Ops Bureau admitted during the press conference that tear gas do emit dioxin, but goes on to say that protesters have undoubtedly burnt the most plastic during these past months, and if the deployment of tear gas can stop protesters burning plastic, why should the police use it? Wong also confessed that their equipment does not offer officers full protection.

(Image from Environmental Protection Department’s website)