Pepper Spray

Pepper spray, Oleoresin Capsicum (OC) is fairly widely used and legal in many countries to subdue an individual. It's used by law enforcement as a means of crowd control, and is available for purchase to be carried by citizens for use as a crime/attack deterrent. It's made by processing the pepper and grinding it into a fine powder, then combined with Ethanol and evaporated to make the concentrate. That mixture is combined with Propylene Glycol and water, then pressurized into an aerosol can.

Use of the aerosol is highly effective when aimed anywhere at a person's face. Direct contact with the eyes works by dilating capillaries in the eyes and additionally, causing inflammation of mucus membranes. This produces a burning sensation that is quite unbearable and unfortunately it's not so easy to quickly alleviate. Flushing eyes out with water, or milk diluted with water can help, but the most important thing to remember if you ever get hit with it, is DO NOT TOUCH OR RUB YOUR EYES. If you don't have either of those within reach, your best bet is leaning your head forward and allowing your own tears to start flushing it out.

Of course because Pepper Spray is an aerosol aimed typically at the facial area, it also has a very unpleasant effect on the mouth, nose, throat and lungs. Directly inhaling it will cause inflammation of the tissue throughout the nose, mouth, throat, and lungs. Drinking the water/milk mix will help reduce the effect in your mouth and throat. You can flush some out of your nose by rinsing with the same mix, but obviously you can't inhale milk into your lungs to relieve that irritation. Typically, the effect tends to be most pronounced for about 15 minutes. People with Asthma or other breathing issues might require use of their inhaler if exposed.

The best advice for dealing with law enforcement using Pepper spray is really, DON'T be near them if you see an officer preparing to use it. This is also why we very strongly recommend wearing protective goggles to a protest, in addition to a N95 or KN 95 face mask. These combined will greatly reduce your chances of a very unpleasant experience with pepper spray or tear gas. You *should* be able to walk/run away from even a direct spraying if you're wearing both. Then you just need to make sure you wash any of it off your skin which might've been exposed.

As with any contaminants used in crowd control, you'll want to remove any extra clothing when it's possible, take a shower once you get home and put all clothes into the wash.