Pepper spray has become a popular law enforcement and self-defence tool because of its availability and ease of use.
That's all very well when someone is under threat and wants to defend themselves from an attacker, but the proliferation of the use of pepper spray by Hong Kong police in recent months has raised concerns that it's being overused as a method of crowd control, especially during protest rallies.
As recently as June police controversially used pepper spray to scatter protesters at the government headquarters in an angry rally against plans for a new town development.
We have all seen TV images of protesters being the unfortunate targets of pepper spray and their quick reaction is to use water to flush their eyes. Wrong, wrong, wrong.
First of all, and most importantly, don't touch the affected area. Pepper spray is oil-based and can easily spread to other parts of the body by touch.
The last thing you want is to douse your eyes with water. Because pepper spray is an oil, and oil and water don't mix.
If you were sprayed in the face with pepper spray, you would immediately feel a burning sensation in your eyes, nose and mouth, and possibly even your throat and on your skin. It's like having an onion rubbed against your eyes.