this may help a little:
source: Capsium
Chiles and Foodborne Bacteria– Of the many health benefits offered by chiles, one of the most significant is their capacity to prevent foodborne bacterial disease. In a study published in the March 1998 volume of the Quarterly Review of Biology, researchers tested a long list of spices against thirty different harmful bacteria which can occur in foods. Chiles killed over 75% of the thirty germs in the study. The agent in chiles which appears to kill bacteria is capsaicin. In another study, capsaicin was found to inhibit the rare but sometimes fatal Vibrio vulnificus bacteria, which is found in raw shellfish. Eating chiles is not only a tasty and feel-good experience, but defends your body against nasty microbes as well.
and:
source: Aquatic Invasive Species, Ohio Sea Grant College Program/MB-2
Toxicity studies of two natural product antifoulants (NPAs): capsaicin and zosteric acid, were evaluated using both a standard Microtox assay and a static toxicity test. The EC50 values of various fresh water bacteria: P. putida and enriched bacteria isolated from the Lake Erie water, and marine bacteria: V. natriegens and V. parahaermolyticus, were found to the in the range of 3 to 23 mg/L for capsaicin, and 10 to 440 mg/L for zosteric acid. These values are substantially higher, meaning less toxic, than the currently used antifoulants, such as TBT (EC50 < 0.01 ppb).
Bon Appetite