Acute health effects
Capsaicin is a highly irritant material requiring proper protective goggles, respirators, and proper hazmat handling procedures. It is hazardous in cases of skin contact (irritant, sensitizer), of eye contact (irritant), of ingestion, of inhalation (lung irritant, lung sensitizer). Severe over-exposure to pure capsaicin can result in death; the lethal dose (LD50 in mice) is 47.2 mg/kg.[17].
Painful exposures to capsaicin-containing peppers are among the most common plant-related exposures presented to poison centers.[20] They cause burning or stinging pain to the skin, and if ingested in large amounts by adults or small amounts by children, can produce nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and burning diarrhea.[20] Eye exposure produces intense tearing, pain, conjunctivitis, and blepharospasm.[20]
[edit] Treatment after exposure
The primary treatment is removal from exposure. Contaminated clothing should be removed and placed in airtight bags to prevent secondary exposure. Capsaicin could be washed off the skin using soap, shampoo, or other detergents, or rubbed off with oily compounds such as vegetable oil, paraffin oil, petroleum jelly (Vaseline), creams, or polyethylene glycol. Plain water, as well as home remedies such as vinegar, bleach, sodium metabisulfite, or topical antacid suspensions are ineffective in removing capsaicin.
Burning and pain symptoms can be effectively relieved by cooling, e.g., from ice, cold water, cold bottles, cold surfaces, or a flow of air from wind or a fan. In severe cases, eye burn might be treated symptomatically with topical ophthalmic anesthetics; mucous membrane burn with lidocaine gel. Capsaicin-induced asthma might be treated with nebulized bronchodilators or oral antihistamines or corticosteroids.[20]
[edit] Effects of dietary consumption
Ingestion of spicy food or ground jalapeño peppers does not cause mucosal erosions or other abnormalities.[21] Some mucosal microbleeding has been found after eating red and black peppers, but there is no significant difference between aspirin (used as a control) and peppers.[22] Other studies have shown an association between chronic consumption of capsaicin-rich foods and stomach cancer.[23
from wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capsaicin#ToxicityOh! And the worlds hottest pepper is actually the Naga Jolokia from Bangladesh, at around 1,000,000 scoville units.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naga_JolokiaGood Luck :)
