Understanding Self Defense Technologies for REALTOR Safety Month

September is both the anniversary of the notorious slaying of Arkansas real estate agent Beverly Carter and, fittingly, REALTOR® Safety Month. While policies and procedures for increasing agents' safety are on the rise in recent years, ensuring personal security still largely falls on agents themselves.

According to a 2015 NAR report, pepper spray is the most common self-defense technology carried by agents. But not all defense sprays are alike; it is important for agents to understand the different formulations, their effects, and quality testing technologies in order to select the best security product.

The original defense spray of the 1960s was based on a potent tear gas, known as CN or mace®. It is an irritant that causes tearing, coughing, and pain in the eyes, nose, mouth, and airways. Assailants sprayed with CN may experience temporary blindness because of tearing. However, the effectiveness of CN relies on the attacker's reaction to pain, so it may be ineffective against a person who is mentally ill or under the influence of drugs. As a result, CN-based sprays have largely been taken off the market and succeeded by formulas derived from different varieties of chili peppers.

Pepper sprays, commonly called OC as an abbreviation for its chemical name oleoresin capsicum, is the most effective defense spray for agents. OCs cause inflammation that makes it difficult for an assailant to open their eyes and even breathe normally. In effect, it does not rely on an individual's pain response—increasing the chances for a would-be victim to get away.

But the challenge in selecting the right OC spray is understanding their different strengths and quality performance because they are not standardized or government regulated. Most companies rate the strength and quality of their defense sprays inaccurately. Some use the percentage of OC in the product, without accounting for amount of heat-bearing ingredients or heat strength. Others stake their claim simply on Scoville Heat Units (SHUs) of the raw pepper, which can vary depending on the type of pepper used and seasonally-affected concentration.

In fact, a study published in the Journal of Forensic Science found significant variability in the concentrations and strength of commercially available pepper sprays—even when they came from the same product lines and manufacturers and were labeled by SHU measurements. Such differences not only affect the quality and efficacy of the pepper spray, but may endanger a real estate agent who relies on it as a life-saving measure.

Only one company, SABRE, currently ensures optimal consistency and heat quality by measuring the heat bearing and pain producing components in their products. SABRE guarantees the strength of their product by testing each batch in the laboratory with exclusive High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), which accurately detects the amount of active ingredient in each product. "That's a fancy way of saying that scientists are now able to determine how many parts per million of heat-causing alkaloids are present in a given chile pepper," explains Paul Bosland, professor of horticulture at New Mexico State University. Realtors should check their pepper spray product for this measurement of quality to ensure performance, if and when it is needed in a threat situation.

A high-quality pepper spray is a non-lethal and effective self-protection solution for agents. The threat is real, as real estate ranks among the top ten industries in terms of violent work-related fatalities. REALTOR® Safety Month is a good reminder for agents to develop and understanding of the self-defense technologies available and create a personal safety plan.