The Effects of Pepper Spray

The Dangers Brought by Police Pepper Spray

Pepper spray has been a favorite weapon that can be used for driving away people with bad intentions. This was the main purpose why this small yet powerful weapon was made not until an incident happened was filmed in California. Police were using their so called O.C. spray and dousing it casually on nonviolent protesters. Though there were many people who have condemned the act made by the police, only some of these people are aware of the danger that police-grade spray brings.

Comparison of Pepper Spray

People who are unaware of the dangers of pepper spray should know that it is different from the regular spray that any mother would let their child carry. When talking about police-grade spray, the power is inevitably high. It is 3 times stronger than any civilian spray you can find in the market and a thousand times stronger than the jalapeno peppers.

Using the scoville units to determine the spiciness of peppers and chilies, different sprays were tested and compared to determine the hazardous effect of the police-grade spray. When the scoville unit of police-grade spray was tested, its spiciness went really high to over 5 million scoville units. It is higher than the 5,000 scoville units that can be found in jalapeno peppers. This is also higher than those sprays made from habanero that contains 350,000 scoville units and still higher than the usual spray brought by civilians which has only 2 million scoville units.

Dangers of Pepper Spray

Due to the danger that police-grade pepper spray may bring, it has been named a worldwide banned chemical weapon especially during wars. When it is sprayed unto a person, it will affect directly the eyes mouth and nose and the compound called capsaicin will react with the nerves within the mucous membranes. As soon as the mucous membranes are affected, a person may experience difficulty in breathing for a maximum of 15 minutes, blindness of 30 minutes, and burning that may last for an hour. This will cause extreme pain and heat on the sprayed area.

With these facts in mind, there is no doubt why people say that pepper spray can kill a person. To support this fact, it was recorded that 70 people have already died because of the police-grade spray while under the custody of police since 1990. Aside from sudden death, there are also people saying that these sprays may cause certain human fatalities and is a form of inhumanity and a torture to some.

Prevention Methods from the Effects of Pepper Spray

To prevent a person from experiencing worst effects, it is advised that the person will not touch the sprayed area, blink quickly to create tears for flushing out the chemicals, apply milk to soothe the burning sensation and wash it with soap and water. These tips are sure to minimize the effects of the spray and prevent it from leading to any dangerous conditions.

With all of these hazards given, Kamran Loghman, one of pepper spray developers have stated that he has never seen anyone using chemical agents improperly and inappropriately. This only leads to making the spray a dangerous weapon that may lead to safety and health risks to people and should not be used for practicing police brutality.