Pepper Spray Ok’D

Sun., Aug. 9, 1998

By Rich Landers richl@spokesman.com (509) 459-5508

Bear deterrents

Counter Assault, a bear deterrent spray made in Bigfork, Mont., this month became the only such product to be registered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The approval comes after years of testing to prove the product can be safely used under the general category of pesticides, said Pride Johnson, company general manager.

Counter Assault was developed in the early 1980s by Bill Pounds in a six-year cooperative study with the University of Montana Border Grizzly Project.

The main ingredient in the non-lethal spray is a derivative of Capsicum, a red pepper oil that affects the upper respiratory system, triggering involuntary eye closure and intense burning.

The potency of the pepper oil is usually rated in Scoville Heat Units (SHUs), which are a subjective culinary and horticultural measure of taste. For example, Tabasco sauces are about 2,000 SHUs and a hot jalapeno pepper is about 5,000 SHUs.

Counter Assault is the hottest pepper oil available at 10 percent Oleoresin Capsicum, according to Johnson.

That amounts to about 3 million SHUs.

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Pepper Spray Ok’D

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