Pepper spray originates from the U.S. and was introduced in the 1980s by the Postal Service as a dog repellent. It was also used on bears and other animals. Its other name is oleoresin of capsicum (OC) spray

Pepper spray, or the so-called OC spray from "Oleoresin Capsicum", OC gas, or capsicum spray, is a lachrymatory agent that is used in riot control, crowd control and personal self-defense, including defense against dogs and bears. This is a chemical compound that irritates the eyes to cause tears, pain, and even temporary blindness and is also a non-lethal agent that can be deadly in some occasions. Fourteen fatalities from the use of pepper spray have been documented by The American Civil Liberties Union. The active ingredient in pepper spray is capsaicin, including chillis. It is a chemical derived from the fruit of plants in the Capsicum genus.

In comparison to Mace, which is an irritant, Pepper spray is an inflammatory agent that causes immediate closing of the eyes and coughing. The length of the effects is various, but the average full effect lasts around thirty to forty-five minutes, with mitigated effects lasting for hours. It depends on the strength of the spray.

Pelargonic acid vanillylamide desmethyldihydrocapsaicin is used in another version of pepper spray known as PAVA spray which is used in England. It is used as synthetic analogue of capsaicin and another synthetic counterpart of pepper spray is pelargonic acid morpholide, which was developed and is widely used in Russia.  Its effectiveness is unclear and it has caused some injuries, if compared to natural pepper spray.

Pepper spray typically comes in canisters but they are often small enough to be carried or concealed in a pocket or purse, so pepper spray can also be bought concealed in items such as rings.

The higher the percentage, the hotter and better it works. It is one of the biggest misconceptions about defense spray and in most cases this could not be further from the truth. Fastest incapacitating sprays in the world are from 2%-10% and the lighter the fluid, the faster is penetrates the membranes. This is wrong, because the percentage has nothing to do with the actual SHU or "hot" in the spray. Furthermore, thicker sprays can inflame the skin area more and last longer with this unnecessary inflammation, while a good spray will put the attacker down and out allowing you to escape or take control of the situation.

OC is effective against all those who feel no pain such as psychotics, drunks and drug abusers. It is because it is an inflammatory, rather than an irritant and OC has proven itself to be the absolute best deterrent available for attacking dogs and wild animal control. Another major advantage of OC is that it is not volatile and will not emit a lot of fumes like tear gases.

The term OC, which means oleoresin capsicum, is a horticultural term which refers to chili peppers. These peppers are many different kinds ranging from jalapenos, chiletpin, and cayenne to habaneros, but they all have one thing in common- they all contain a substance that is very powerful, an alkaloid called capsaicin (cap-say-a-sin). In fact, capsaicin can be detected by humans at one part per ten million. Just one drop of tasteless and odorless capsaicin in 100,000 drops of water and the heat can be noticeable.

Capsaicinoids are produced by a gland in the pepper's placenta, the top partition just below the stem and is also where the seeds are attached. The placenta is about 16 times stronger than any other part of the plant, any OC spray worth its salt will use its active ingredient made from this part.

A pharmacologist named Wilbur Scoville came up with the standard for measuring the power of capsaicin, which was called the Scoville Organoleptic Test and was needed to calculate the temperature of peppers used in many pharmaceutical products of the time, such as "Heet" which was used for the relief of sore muscles, arthritis pain and muscular sprains. This took place back in 1912. Scoville measured the ground pepper into a mixture of sugar, water and alcohol, then, a panel of five tasters sipped the mixture and gave it a grade. It took a majority of three to assign a value.

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