Senior eye doctors are warning people to keep liquid capsules for fabric detergents out of the reach of children after a wave of eye injuries in young children.
Last year, chemical injuries associated with these capsules accounted for 40 percent of ocular chemical injuries in children under the age of five at The Western Eye Hospital.
The capsule in most liquid detergent capsules is a water soluble polyvinyl alcohol membrane. The liquid detergent is a mixture of three active agents -- an anionic detergent, a non-ionic detergent, and a cationic surfactant -- dissolved in water to give an alkaline solution, making the capsule more dangerous than initially perceived.
Alkali injuries are the most severe form of chemical eye injury. They can cause irreversible damage and have lifelong ramifications, such as constant discomfort, scarring and even amblyopia (lazy eye).