Hi Jim,
While I can't speak to the effect of irritants on blades, I do know that tear gas and pepper spray are routinely used in combat situations. Yes, they are blinders, but they are primarily irritants. The point of the irritant is to make someone pay attention to their wounds, even involuntarily. I don't know of any human deliberately putting irritants on blades, but it's certainly the effect of things like wasp-stings. Wasp venom ( and probably bee venom, depending on species) is full of things like histamine that cause pain as well as tissue damage. Very little wasp venom is needed to get you to notice that you've been stung.
In any case, if this wasn't part of the reason they used to poison blades, maybe in the future, martial artists will start putting capsaicin and histamine concoctions on their "less lethal" weapons, or some such...Hmmmm.
F
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