Questions are being raised about the RCMP’s decision to use new recruits as guinea pigs in a study evaluating the effects of different concentrations of pepper spray.

The National Post learned about the experiment after receiving an anonymous email expressing concerns that cadets at the RCMP’s central training academy in Regina were being treated like “lab rats” and could face adverse health effects.

While not considered lethal, the noxious substance can cause a burning sensation in the eyes and skin, severe coughing and temporary blindness.

An RCMP spokesman in Ottawa initially would not confirm that a study was underway. Sgt. Harold Pfleiderer said in a statement that each cadet is exposed to Oleoresin Capsicum Spray (OCS) in a “controlled environment” during Week 7 of their training to make them “aware of the physiological/psychological responses that occur when exposed.”

Only when pressed did the spokesman confirm the force had carried out tests of three different concentrations of pepper spray on four separate cadet troops during May and June. Each troop was exposed to one concentration.

Four additional cadet troops served as control groups and were exposed to the pepper spray currently used by the force.

“Each concentration was evaluated to determine what, if any, effect the OCS had on officer performance (judgment, decision-making, confidence, tactics and officer safety, operational skills performance, and physical effects) as well as for any officer safety concerns,” Pfleiderer said.

“This information was collected and will form part of the evaluation to determine if another OCS concentration should be approved for use.”

David Calam, a spokesman at the RCMP Depot Division in Regina, said cadets were exposed to a one-second burst of spray to the face and then tasked with locating a radio to call for help. It typically took cadets about 70 seconds to complete the task, at which point they would get treatment. No one was left untreated.

While cadets were made aware they were participating in a study, they were not told what concentrations they were receiving, Calam said. Participation was mandatory.

The fact cadets couldn’t opt out doesn’t sit well with Rob Creasser, a retired Mountie and spokesman for the Mounted Police Professional Association of Canada. He said he sees value in having new recruits experience what it’s like to be sprayed, but he thinks it should be voluntary.

Fighting through the worst experience of your life is empowering, it makes you feel as though you can survive anything

“I’m not so sure compelling them to do so is the way to go,” he said.

A health services officer at the RCMP Depot was consulted before and during the study and “no reactions or adverse effects outside of the norm were noted,” the force said. Further, each of the concentrations used in the study fell in line with concentrations used by other police agencies.

Concerns have been raised in the past about whether officers should be exposed to pepper spray at all during training. In the 1990s, the Workers’ Compensation Board of B.C. (now WorkSafeBC) declared that the “intentional spray of officers is not acceptable.” While there were no long-term effects, it can cause a “severe, short-term health effect.”

As a result, the Justice Institute of B.C, which trains municipal police officers, stopped exposing recruits to the spray during training. The ban remains in effect, a spokeswoman at the institute said this week.

Canada Border Services Agency officers, who also carry pepper spray, are not exposed to it during their training, an official said.

A 2007 study out of Simon Fraser University found that a majority of police officers agreed that exposure to pepper spray during training enhanced their ability to defend against assailants, control a suspect and communicate with fellow officers when exposed in the field.

“Here is an opportunity to experience pain, discomfort, burning of the skin … the worst experience of your life,” one trainer was quoted as saying in the study. “Fighting through the worst experience of your life is empowering, it makes you feel as though you can survive anything.”