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煙
黑旗舉起，白色大字寫著：警告 催淚煙。槍聲一響，一縷白煙穿過空氣。催淚彈著地燃燒，煙霧隨即騰起。防暴警察的槍口火花閃現，槍聲不斷，空氣漸漸彌漫著刺鼻、令人窒息的白色煙霧。
在6月12日，反修例運動最早的一場警民衝突中，警察已經選擇了發射逾240枚催淚彈，作為人群管制的方式。過去半年，香港局勢動盪，催淚彈成為警察面對示威時最常使用的武器。
有統計指，反修例運動的首6個月中，在香港各區，警方對示威者發射超過1萬6千枚催淚彈。新聞報導估計，香港約88%的人口曾經曝露於催淚彈釋出的化學物之中。
在衝突最嚴重的時候，警方曾在一個地點發射逾1千5百枚催淚彈。關於催淚彈對公眾健康及環境的影響，社會憂慮重重。警方多次重申，催淚彈是非致命武器，使用目的是驅散群眾。但隨著警方使用催淚彈的密度增加，一些懷疑濫用催淚彈的情況被傳媒記錄，公眾對警方的評價每況愈下，香港警察的公信力顯得盪然無存。在香港民意研究所11月底進行的民調中，4成市民給予警方0分，反映「非常不滿意」。
催淚煙籠罩著香港的街道，使香港的繁華鬧市、石屎森林變成白霧彌漫的詭譎戰場。煙霧中，示威者穿戴的粉紅色防毒面罩顯得如此醒目，成為了反修例運動的標誌性畫面。
Smoke
A black flag is raised: warning, tear smoke. A shot rings and a curving line of smoke pierces the air. As the canister lands, smoke pours out in swirls. Riot police in groups would break out and fire shots - one, two, three, until the air is thick with the nauseating acid stench of gas.
On June 12, one of the earliest days in the half-year protests that rocked Hong Kong, the police had chosen to fire more than 240 rounds of teargas as their crowd control measure. Teargas remains their top-used tool in handling the protests.
In the first 6 months of the ongoing anti-extradition bill protests, the police deployed nearly 16,000 teargas canisters at protesters in various districts across Hong Kong. Some news reports estimated that around 88 percent of the population have been exposed to the chemicals released from the gas.
On some of the worst days, the police reported that they have used over 1,500 cans in just one sight. Public health concerns and the potential toxication of the environment become a collective distress. The police reiterated through the months that teargas is a non-lethal weapon, used with the intention of dispersing crowds. But as the use increased and incidents of suspected misuse were recorded, the public’s opinion of the police deteriorated, until all trust in the police vanished like smoke. In a November poll conducted by the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute, 40% of citizens gave the Hong Kong Police a 0 mark, meaning deep dissatisfaction over the police.
Smoke masks the streets, turning Hong Kong’s shopping districts and skyscraper-flanked roads into eerie battlefields. Teargas smoke has become a symbol of this movement, just like the pink-filtered gas masks protesters don to protect themselves from it.
2024專利防護中