The incident occurred at 11:16 a.m. at the intersection of Zhonghua Road and Guangzhou Street in the West Gate area, where a bottle of pepper spray fell on the ground and was broken after being crushed by vehicles.

The irritating yellow powder spread into the air and affected a total of 43 passers-by and motorcyclists.

Three students and one faculty member of the Longshan Junior Middle School nearby were also affected as the chemical spread onto the campus.

The powder caused itchy eyes, sore throats, breathing difficulties and dizziness but posed no serious harm, officials from the Cabinet-level Environment Protection Administration (EPA) said.

Pepper spray can irritate the eyes and respiratory tracts, causing symptoms of respiratory tracts burns, eye inflammation and throat irritation.

"But brief exposures to the chemical poses low risk (to health)," Yuan Shaw-ying, director-general of the EPA's department of environmental sanitation and toxic substance management, told a news conference.

Yet the incident caused public concern in the afternoon, as some media reported earlier that the chemical was chloroacetaldehyde, an ingredient of tear gas.

An emergency team sent by the EPA to the scene later confirmed the mysterious yellow powder was not a tear gas ingredient but a pepper spray ingredient instead, Yuan said.

EPA staff has already cleaned up the chemical from the area, he added.

According to the EPA, victims were taken to several hospitals for treatment. Most were released from hospitals soon while 20 people went home by the evening after receiving further examinations.

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