JAKARTA - Protests from thousands of workers and a number of student alliances in front of the DPR/MPR Building, Senayan, Jakarta on Thursday 28, August 2025 ended in chaos. The commotion broke out with throwing wood, stones, bottles of mineral water, and burning firecrackers at the DPR/MPR building.
The situation got hotter when police fired tear gas to disperse the crowd. The gas collectors made demonstrators riot. In every major demonstration, tear gas is often the mainstay weapon of the authorities to unravel the masses.
Exposure to tear gas usually causes pain in the eyes and shed tears. Many demonstrators try to anticipate its impact by applying toothpaste on the face. However, does this method really work?
The use of toothpaste when facing tear gas shots is quite well known among demonstrators. They believe that the dollar layer can help reduce the pain caused by the gas.
Dra. Ani Setyopratiwi, M.Si., researcher, lecturer, and expert on Kimia FMIPA UGM, explained the reasons behind this habit. Face-to-face is believed by the public to be a protector of exposure to tear gas.
Even so, recently news emerged that caused public confusion because it was said that the use of toothpaste on the face was actually risky.
According to Dra. Ani, the interaction between the content in toothpaste and tear gas components can weaken each other. Pasting teeth contains gel-shaped emulsion, while tear gas has water-based emulsion.
"All toothpaste, especially toothpaste, can only be used because the solution is still homogeneous. If it has been a long time and mixed with water, the solution tends to break and run water so that the emulsion has been damaged and is less effective," said Dra. Ani, quoted from the official website of the Faculty of MIPA UGM.
Dra. Ani added that the use of toothpaste is actually not the only way that can be done to reduce the pain due to exposure to tear gas. According to her, there is a simpler and more affordable alternative, namely by using a solution of salt water.
"If you use toothpaste, it's expensive, you can use salt water solutions that are sprayed around those exposed to tear gas as an alternative." said Dra. Ani.
Furthermore, Dra. Ani emphasized that the use of toothpaste is relatively safe, except for individuals with certain sensitive or allergic skin.
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