1. (NU) - Much has been made
about using pepper spray for per-
sonal protection -- everything from
whether it should be legal to carry
while traveling by air, to deter-
mining its value in self defense.
In honor of June’s National Safe-
ty Month, let’s separate fact from
fiction, and bring a little clarity to
this effective tool:
Myth: Some wasp sprays can
be substituted for pepper spray.
While potent on nasty insects,
they simply do not have the stop-
ping power to work on humans.
Myth: Some people are im-
mune to pepper spray.
Untrue, says SABRE, a manu-
facturer of security products for
law enforcement and the general
public. According to a 2001 Uni-
versity of Utah study, some pepper
sprays fail because they do not in-
clude the necessary measures to
guarantee strength consistency.To
ensure heat consistency, SABRE
operates a high-performance liq-
uid chromatography lab that tests
the strength of every pepper spray
batch. SABRE eliminates pepper
spray failures due to bad batches.
“That’s a fancy way of saying
that scientists are now able to de-
termine how many parts per mil-
lion of heat-causing alkaloids are
present in a given chili pepper,”
wrote Dr. Paul Bosland, a genetics
research scientist from the Uni-
versity of New Mexico, in Smith-
sonian Magazine.
Myth: Scoville Heat Units
(SHU) can be used to deter-
mine strength.
Actually, major capsaici-
noids are the only way to deter-
mine the heat strength of pepper
spray. A Scoville Heat Units list-
ing on pepper spray is subjective
and can be inaccurate.
Myth: There is a no-fly rule
with pepper spray.
According to the FAA, “one
4-ounce container of pepper spray”
is permitted in checked baggage
provided it is equipped with a safe-
ty mechanism to prevent acciden-
tal discharge. While legal to carry
in all 50 states, certain restrictions
apply so be sure to check your
state’s website for regulations.
Myth: There is a chance that
you could spray yourself.
SABRE sprays have various
safety mechanisms, making it
virtually impossible to spray
yourself accidentally.
Myth: If used, it could be tak-
en away and used against me.
The whole purpose of pepper
spray is to be able to stay at a dis-
tance, while incapacitating your at-
tacker. In this way, you can stay up
to 10 feet away for sprays and 12
feet away for gels. For added pro-
tection, SABRE has a stop strap
that will stop the device from
spraying if the pepper spray is
pulled away from the strap worn
around your wrist.
Myth: There is no guarantee
it will affect an attacker.
Unless you’ve purchased a
bad batch of pepper spray, some
of the effects you can expect are:
involuntary eye closure, imbal-
ance, loss of breath and facial
area burning -- all which give
you time to escape.
For more information, visit
www.sabrered.com.
Pepper Spray Conversations
Heat Up, Myths Debunked
SAFETY
NewsUSA
Note to editors: June is National Safety Month