Storing e-cigarette liquid next to eye drops caused one woman to mix them up, leading to slight eye damage that could have been much worse, Scottish doctors report. Since the bottles looked similar at a glance, and the nicotine-laced liquid carried no warnings about the harm of contact with the eyes, the authors of a case report in JAMA Ophthalmology say e-cigarette users should be aware of this risk.
The researchers describe a patient in her 50s who presented to the Tennent Institute of Ophthalmology at Gartnavel General Hospital in Glasgow with eye irritation. She had recently been prescribed antibiotic drops for bacterial conjunctivitis, or pinkeye, and stored these next to her e-cig refill liquid in her bathroom cupboard.
When she mistakenly dripped e-cig liquid in her eye she immediately experienced pain, redness and blurred vision. She flushed the eye with water and went to emergency eye services. According to chemical tests, her e-cig liquid had a pH of 6, more acidic than tears, which usually have a pH of about 7.0 to 7.3.
By the time the woman was tested in the hospital, her eye pH was 7.0, which the doctors credited to her having rinsed her eye immediately. Her cornea was stained but there was no damage to the delicate epithelial cells of the eye.
The researchers did not find any other reported cases of people putting e-cigarette liquid in their eyes, but there have been similar accidents with nail glue or olbas oil, which is used to remedy nasal congestion, they write.