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Monday 31 May 2010

The Eyes Have It


On the train we usually look for where there is space. Then a man wanders down from further up and takes a seat nearby who has spent quality time on his grooming. Five seconds later we get the big hit from his ultra macho male deodorant. Bang, brain, whack chest and then her eyes start to water. I have close wrapped sunglasses but soon have irritation on the eyes.

We think about moving, but then he leaves the train. But he leaves the smell that indicates the stuff is still in the air. Despite air conditioning and opening doors it lingers for a while. She wipes her eyes a few times while I am blinking. When we arrive at where we were going we are both in the washrooms swilling faces.

So I think about the eyes and about the sheer power, impact and stick and stay effect of this routine male preparation. He has it 24/7, so do the people he lives with and close associates and he gives it others whether they want it or not.

The eyes are vital yet very vulnerable parts of the human building kit. Also, if they go badly wrong they are intricate and difficult to repair and impossible to replace. Surgeons can do many things to limbs and other parts of the body but some are beyond their best talents and will be for the future.

In the course of the ordinary day the eyes are expect to do a great deal of varied work. They are subject to significant variations in light conditions and all and any of the contamination in the air. They have their own self cleaning and maintenance systems that can cope with most natural substances in the air and have contact with but they can only do so much.

They indicate their problems often by what is happening inside them and in ordinary fashion by being sore, irritated or painful. What I do know is that when we come into contact with the fumes and fragrances in many modern household and personal products our eyes tell us they do not like them and that will tell us that there is the risk of damage.

We are being told daily of the rising rates of asthma, cancers, dementias, stomach troubles and the rest that have many and various causes. We know that there is a profound reluctance to admit that some part of this may be due to the levels of contamination induced by various types of product and their chemistry. But what is happening to all our eyes as well?

There may well be real problems on the way. The fine particle technology now coming into common production use added to the increased strength and powers of penetration and adherence will have a particular effect on the eyes. It is arguable that many people making heavy use of the relevant products will begin to build up coatings of fine metals, cyanides, benzenes and chlorines on the eye surface with all the long term effects.

The natural defences of the eye will not be able to remove it, nor will surgery and, nor will any treatment or chemical application be available that will be effective. At the moment we are at the point on the curve when the rise in problems is slight but steady and the cause unrecognised. It might not be long before the curve begins to turn sharply upward and the rise gains rapidity.

Look out for it, if you can.

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