Uh-oh, hot peppers will now be banned from schools. Maybe they tried to SMOKE them, being that it happened in Colorado? I'd not heard of this type of thing before today.

Don B.

I've heard of things like this happening with pepper spray. But not with plain old peppers. And just six of them caused this for an entire school?

In some places police use pepper spray on riot crowds. But they use Bhut Jolokia, with SHU of over 1,000,000. Habanero is about 300k.

When we were kids, we used to pick the Tepins off the wild bushes growing near the school yard and eat'em with our frijole burritos.
'Course we had to watch out for the Comanches that were lurking everywhere in the thickets...

Two years ago I planted 3 habanero peppers and they grew nicely. They were beautiful, covered with orange hanbanero peppers. I decided to make habanero jelly. I started to clean the peppers and immediately could not see through my burning eyes. My wife began to laugh from the safety of the dining room. I finished the cleaning under water and started cooking the jelly. The air filled with habanero fumes; I could not breath. I ran outside until my lungs and eyes cleared and then held my breath as I opend all of the house windows and used a house fan to clear the air. My wife was laughing uncontrolably from the safety of the patio. After the jelly was finished I began to clean the pots WITHOUT GLOVES! My hands suffered chemical burns that hurt like the devil and burned for two days. The only relief I could get was placing my hans in cold milk, but when removed they continued to burn. My wife thought it was hilarious! I am considering putting some of the habanero jelly in her pasta sauce and see if she thinks it is funny. I probably won't do it, since down deep, I am a coward.

Wow, Charlie. You're kidding, right? I have heard of people cooking and unleashing fumes in their homes. But not chemical burns from cleaning pots. I have heard of skin irritation happening to people who pick the peppers in the fields for a living, but not burns and not to someone with a lesser exposure . . . now those of us who wear contact lenses know that putting your finger near your eyes still hurts like the devil if your finger has hot pepper oils on it!

Angie

Nope. Not kidding (much). The burning was real; hurt like the devil. My hands turned red like a sunburn and peeled off. Imagine what it does to your digestive system.

Umm, how many (cups of) peppers did you put in the pot to make how many jars of jelly? The vinegar/pepper mixture can give off some nasty fumes when heated, but I make pepper jelly every year (jalapenos and Hinkelhatz, no habs) as well as salsa and never had a problem with cleaning the pots - though if I don't wear gloves (come on, they're just jals - right!) after a couple cups of diced peppers the cuticles start burning). All you have to do with jelly pot is rinse in hot water and stick in DW - it comes off really easy, salsa tends to leave a line and may need scrubbing.

Charlie,
LMAO. Whenever I make Ghostanero salsa, roasting onions, garlic, carrots, habs and ghosts, DW just leaves the house. I open the blender ONLY under a vent fan goin' full blast.
And, I have had burning on my hands after cleaning the blender, but not as bad as yours.
The acid in yer stomach is orders of magnitude worse than any capsaicin...

Actually, I think eating hot peppers helps your digestive system rather than hurting it, doesn't it? See this link.

If they are not as healthy as I think they are, then I need to do something about not eating them so much because I love them and eat them constantly. :)

Angie

Here is a link that might be useful: Ten ways hot peppers help you be healthier

Charlie, I had skin irritation to my hands that lasted for an entire day after chopping up some really hot peppers years ago, even went to the store to buy burn spray which did not help much.
It hurt. I can't imagine your wife making light of your discomfort, that is almost more irritating that the peppers.

HHLady,
I'll buy all but the last "benefit." I don't get any "numbing" except from Schezwan pepper.
I leave the numbing to the tequila and mescal... ;-)

for some reason I seem to be immune to this effect. at least when it comes to breathing it in. I've gotten some serious hand burn working with superhots. for some reason I hate gloves, and don't wear them working with peppers. I find alcohol does a great job of getting rid of the burn on my hands.

my wife's trinidadian mother says rub sugar on your hands.

Breathing the vapors can make me sneeze, but it has never burned me. And I've never had anything happen because of skin contact. Well, except that if I forget and go to put in or take out my contacts, that really hurts.

I can't even cut one open. My throat closes up and I start choking.