Dodged a bullet that might have decimated my eyesight in flight

[Shadrach]

Yesterday after work I headed over to the drome to blow off a little steam in the form simulated engine out maneuvers from cruising altitude.  Everything went well and I joined my wife for dinner around 7:45.  About 8:45 my right eye began to feel as though it had some dirt floating around in it. We joined a neighbor for a glass of wine and in addition to the grittiness now in both eyes, I noticed I was becoming  sensitive to candle light.  By 9:15  (just about 2.5hr after completing my flight) I was blind for all intents and purposes. The irritation was nearly unbearable with my vision blurred to the point of being useless (I couldn’t have distinguished my wife from one of @Marauder's girls). I didn’t know what to think.  I flushed my eyes and tried to ride it out with eye drops.  I canned my stoicism and by 10:15 I was in the ER. Fortunately, they were slow.  I told the Dr. that this reminded me of  the time I had “Arc Eye” in my 20s but this was much, much worse.  It was then that I realized that a brief (just seconds) exposure to a UV water treatment light earlier that morning might have caused the issue. Dr. confirmed that I had a severe case of photokeratitis.  Never in my wildest dreams could I have envisioned (pun intended) being nearly taken out by a light bulb.  I cannot imagine how I would have completed my earlier flight with those symptoms.  I am still experiencing minor discomfort, but I am grateful to be able to see well enough now to type this.  Do not take UV light exposure lightly. I would have never imagined an injury so severe from just a few seconds of exposure. There but by the grace of god go I…would have made for a weird NTSB report and very difficult situation for controllers trying to assist a newly blind man asking for assistance.

 

Edited April 16, 2020 by Shadrach

[thinwing]

So basically you had a case of snow blindness

[jetdriven]

Well, that’s kind of scary. I just bought a 395 nm UV flashlight for checking oil leaks. I guess I will treat that thing with more respect

[MooneyMitch]

Frightening!  Thank you for the information.  Congratulations too!  

[Shadrach]

24 minutes ago, thinwing said:

So basically you had a case of snow blindness

indeed snow blindness is the same condition. I have experienced discomfort after all day snowboarding sessions and also "arc eye" (I'm not much of a welder)  but neither of those approached the debilitating condition I experienced  yesterday.

Edited September 20, 2019 by Shadrach

[PT20J]

Scary. Glad it worked out OK.

[steingar]

Never, ever EVER, EVER, EVER look at a UV light.  Not even for a moment.

[DXB]

1 hour ago, jetdriven said:

Well, that’s kind of scary. I just bought a 395 nm UV flashlight for checking oil leaks. I guess I will treat that thing with more respect

I think water treatment lights are high intensity UV-C (200-280 nm)  and or UV-B ( 280-315 nm). 395nm LED flashlights straddle between UVA and the violet visible spectrum and are MUCH safer for eye exposure - more akin to the black light bulb one might use use in college to make posters fluoresce while smoking weed and listening to Hendrix.  

[bradp]

Reminds me of when we used UV lights for chem labs in college. Every year someone would get a UV exposure and keratitis to the ED.    

Then I worked with lasers in grad school including UV.  Those open housings were dealt with in a pretty nonchalant way. Nobody wore eye protection.    

They started using UV lasers for deep cleans in hospital settings.  And the housekeeping folks would pull a curtain and call it good.  Now I don’t see those laser carts anymore- wonder what happened. 

UV light should get a very deep respect as Ross has summarized. 

 

[skydvrboy]

2 hours ago, Shadrach said:

I couldn’t have distinguished my wife from one of @Marauder's girls

You don't need your sight for that... you can feel the difference as they walk your direction!

[Shadrach]

https://www.zoro.com/vitapur-replace-lamp-standard-output-vuv-h645b-guvl-600h/i/G5310790/#restrictions

@DXB @steingar

Not a single warning on the package other than the stupid Prop 65 (Everything is known to the state of California to cause cancer)

[RogueOne]

3 hours ago, DXB said:

I think water treatment lights are high intensity UV-C (200-280 nm)  and or UV-B ( 280-315 nm). 395nm LED flashlights straddle between UVA and the violet visible spectrum and are MUCH safer for eye exposure - more akin to the black light bulb one might use use in college to make posters fluoresce while smoking weed and listening to Hendrix.  

Laughed out loud on that one.  Chris had a nice flight today.  Should be heading Eastward now in Big Iron.  Good day.

[RogueOne]

Geez Ross.  That is super fortunate symptoms held off.  You and Dan are “death cheaters”.

Sometimes being lucky is all you need.

Here is to luck!!!

[Shadrach]

2 hours ago, Hyett6420 said:

So help me here, is UV light the same as that light they have inButchers to kill flies?

Andrew

I think they use the light to attract the flies but the killing is done by an electrified screen.

[Shadrach]

3 hours ago, DXB said:

I think water treatment lights are high intensity UV-C (200-280 nm)  and or UV-B ( 280-315 nm). 395nm LED flashlights straddle between UVA and the violet visible spectrum and are MUCH safer for eye exposure - more akin to the black light bulb one might use use in college to make posters fluoresce while smoking weed and listening to Hendrix.  

Spec for my bulb is 254nm.

edit: I misread that it could be more like 200nm.

Edited September 20, 2019 by Shadrach

[steingar]

We’ve always used UV light boxes to detect chemiluminescence of Ethidium bromide, which stains DNA. Years ago one of my colleagues just wore safety glasses (instead of the face shield I preferred) to cut out bands from a gel. She got so sunburned. I recall blurting out that I didn’t know black folks could even get sunburned. I was so innocent back then.

[Shadrach]

1 hour ago, steingar said:

We’ve always used UV light boxes to detect chemiluminescence of Ethidium bromide, which stains DNA. Years ago one of my colleagues just wore safety glasses (instead of the face shield I preferred) to cut out bands from a gel. She got so sunburned. I recall blurting out that I didn’t know black folks could even get sunburned. I was so innocent back then.

I developed significant redness on my face after the symptoms manifested themselves in my eyes. The heat from the burn on my face coupled with the anxiety and pain of eye trauma was one of the worst short term medical issues I’ve ever experienced. This is coming from a guy that has had multiple injuries from compound fractures to a four compartment faciotomy. I don’t know that I’ve ever felt so helpless and vulnerable.

[carusoam]

UV lights can be very strong, and you won’t feel what they are doing...

Often used for...

• Drinking water conditioning...killing bacteria and other living things...
• Fish tank and pond water conditioners...
• curing UV inks... if you work in a print shop.... chem reaction initiated by UV energy.
• curing UV fillings... if you work in a dentist office... chem reaction initiated by UV energy.

When staring at a solar eclipse.... your eyes get exposed to the UV...

Tanning booth... same thing...

So... don’t look into lights without proper protection...

Expect the skin that gets exposed to get a sunburn, even if you are wearing sunglasses... 

PP thoughts only, not a UV light user...

Best regards,

-a-

[Kmac]

My eye doctor asked if I wanted to get lasik since I'm a perfect candidate.  I declined because I prefer to wear my contacts which block UV light from any angle.  Even wearing UV protectant sunglasses can cause damage because your pupils will dialate and still allow UV light in around the sides of the lenses.

[N201MKTurbo]

I built the motion and optical system for a customers UV laser welding system a couple of years ago. I was working with him to get it aligned. We were using a visible laser for initial alignment and then fired up the real laser in a low power CW mode. We put a florescent alignment card in the beam and it was so bright it was like a welding flash. It is kind of sobering when you realize how much UV energy was flying around that room. We were wearing the proper PPE BTW. 

[DXB]

13 hours ago, RogueOne said:

Laughed out loud on that one.  Chris had a nice flight today.  Should be heading Eastward now in Big Iron.  Good day.

Ha- glad it went well for him.  If it works out, your old bird may live in the hangar next to mine.  

[thinwing]

On 9/20/2019 at 1:49 PM, skydvrboy said:

You don't need your sight for that... you can feel the difference as they walk your direction!

Unfortunately,you can also smell the difference 

[jaylw314]

Hope you're feeling better @Shadrach.  Fortunately the cornea heals pretty quickly, but danged uncomfortable  

@Hyett6420 Bug zappers typically use UV bulbs of about 20W, and as long as you don't stare at them for minutes, they're not much of an issue.   I'm guessing the high-output UV sanitizers have bulbs that output in the hundreds of watts.

[kris_adams]

wow...thanks for sharing!

[Shadrach]

1 hour ago, jaylw314 said:

Hope you're feeling better @Shadrach.  Fortunately the cornea heals pretty quickly, but danged uncomfortable  

@Hyett6420 Bug zappers typically use UV bulbs of about 20W, and as long as you don't stare at them for minutes, they're not much of an issue.   I'm guessing the high-output UV sanitizers have bulbs that output in the hundreds of watts.

I could see the following morning, but even today I still feel light sensitive.  Very uncomfortable but the anxiety of being unable to see makes it much worse.   

Interestingly the bulb is a mercury lamp rated at just 60W.  Many folks seem surprised that just a few seconds of exposure did this but there's just no other explanation.  I have a new found respect for the damage UV can cause.

 

Edited September 23, 2019 by Shadrach