Chemical irritants 5.5 HAND-HELD SPRAYERS Key Technical Features These sprayers disperse irritant as a fine spray, mist, fog, or as a liquid stream. The dispersal range of different sprayers varies. Sprayers vary in size from small ‘personal’ 25ml sprayers, to larger 500ml sprayers. Sprayers may contain any chemical irritant or mixture thereof. Human Rights Concerns The use of hand-held sprayers could cause serious injury or death through asphyxiation or agent toxicity, particularly if they are used in enclosed spaces or against restrained individuals. Most sprays allow continuous spraying with no cut off, and this capability risks excessive amounts being used against a person. If chemical irritants are sprayed directly in to the eye they can cause eye damage. There are no common standards on the concentration or amount of irritant, safety of solvents, or the pressure of sprays, which may lead to inconsistency and more dangerous products being used. Use of these weapons can be indiscriminate; if hand-held sprayers are used at a demonstration, bystanders can be affected even if they are not the target. Statements and Standards from Human Rights Bodies ODIHR and Venice Commission: “Devices with indiscriminate effects such as tear gas … should be used for the purpose of dispersal only and should not be used where people (participants / bystanders; violent / peaceful persons) cannot leave the scene. They should only be used if violence has reached such a level that targeting individuals engaged in violence is not a possible or sufficient response.” 112 Examples of Existing Controls The EU Anti-Torture Regulation controls the export of portable sprayers that target one individual or affects a small area. Proposed Control Manufacture should be controlled. Trade and transfer should be controlled. Use should be in line with international human right standards. Venice Commission and OSCE/ODIHR, Guidelines on freedom of peaceful assembly (3rd edition), 8 July 2019, pp. 72-73. 112 95