If you love Mexican food, you’re already familiar with what it feels like to eat spicy food. As soon as you bite into a hot pepper, you instantly feel a warm, tingling sensation inside your mouth. Within a few seconds, this feeling progresses until it feels like your tongue, throat and the inside of your mouth are all on fire. Drinking water doesn’t help the burning sensation fade – instead, it can actually prolong your discomfort. Some people can handle eating spicy peppers, though not many can stomach the hottest pepper in the world – the Bhut Jolokia Pepper.
This burning sensation that you feel when eating a spicy pepper is actaully caused by an active compound called Capsaicin. This compound is able to induce a burning sensation in any type of human or animal tissue that it comes into contact with. Capcaicin is produced as a secondary metabolite in many hot peppers, and when extracted is an odorless, colorless substance.
Active Ingredient in Pepper Spray
Pepper spray is often called Oleoresin Capsicum (OC) Spray, which roughly translates to “pepper resin spray”. Within this resin is contained the active compound Capsaicin. Capsaicin is extracted from peppers by grinding them down to an extremely fine “dust”, and then using an organic solvent (such as ethanol) to draw out the compound. Once the solvent is evaporated, only the waxy Capsaicin remains. This compound is so powerful that as little as one milligram is enough to cause your skin to form painful blisters.
How Pepper Spray is Made
In order to ensure an even spray, the Capsaicin (or Oleoresin Capsicum, as it is often called at this stage) is suspended in water (or sometimes an oil-based solution) by using an emulsifier. It is also combined with a propellant, which allows the spray to be shot outward from a canister. Once the liquid is ready, it may then be pressurized to be used as an aerosol spray.
Rating for Pepper Spray
Pepper spray is often rated according to the Scoville scale, using Scoville heat units (SHU). This scale rates the amount of capsaicin that is present. This measures the heat, or the concentration of a pepper spray formula. Pepper sprays are also rated with the high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method.
How Pepper Sprays Disable Criminals
Upon coming into contact with pepper spray, a criminal will experience several immediate symptoms. These symptoms include:
- Uncontrollable coughing
- Runny nose
- Difficulty breathing
- Swelling of the eyes
- Temporary blindness
- Burning sensation
- Body spasms
First Aid for Pepper Spray
If you have been accidentally exposed to pepper spray, there are a few things that you need to do immediately to help shorten the effects. Avoid touching any of the areas of your body which have been exposed to the spray, since this could cause the compound to spread to other areas of your body. Since capsaicin is not water-soluble, flushing your body and facial area with large amounts of water may not make a significant difference. Most emergency workers recommend using baby shampoo on the affected areas to remove the compound, which may also help decrease the pain.
Pepper Spray Alternatives
In the United kingdom, a synthetic compound (which imitates capsaicin) has been created. This compound is called pelargonic acid vanillylamide (desmethuldihydrocapsaicin). It is widely used in a different type of agent called PAVA spray.
In Russia, a compound called pelargonic acid morpholide was created as a pepper spray alternative. However, its actual effectiveness as compared to pepper spray containing Capsaicin is currently undetermined.
How to Use Pepper Spray
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