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. 2025 Apr:104:106006.
doi: 10.1016/j.tiv.2024.106006. Epub 2024 Dec 31.

Washing with buffered vitamin C after corrosive chemical (sodium hypochlorite) exposure reduces ocular depth of injury

Stewart Lebrun  1 , Linda Nguyen  2 , Joana Romero  2 , Roxanne Chan  2
Affiliations

Washing with buffered vitamin C after corrosive chemical (sodium hypochlorite) exposure reduces ocular depth of injury

Stewart Lebrun et al. Toxicol In Vitro. 2025 Apr.

Abstract

Chemical eye injuries occur in home, industrial, and military settings. The standard recommended treatment after exposure of the eyes to chemical toxins is washing with tap water for at least 15 min. An estimated 80 % of ocular toxins are associated with reactive oxygen species and/or extreme pH. Using food-source eyes and a commercially available test kit for depth of injury (IVD EITTM) that measures the depth of dead corneal keratocytes by fragmented DNA staining, washing the eye with a buffered vitamin C solution significantly reduced corneal keratocyte cell death and depth of injury compared to control. When eyes were washed (using a 500-mL eyewash bottle) for 15 min with water after exposure to 32 % sodium hypochlorite (chlorine bleach), the depth of injury was 59.6 ± 3.6 %, a level of damage predicted to cause extreme/permanent eye injury or even blindness in vivo (extreme or irreversible injury, GHS category 1), but washing with 0.2 % buffered vitamin C after bleach exposure reduced damage to13.8 ± 1.4 %, which is significantly less (P < 0.001) and predicted by the IVD EIT method to be reversible irritation (GHS category 2) that will heal within 21 days in vivo.

Keywords: Antioxidant; Ascorbic acid; Countermeasures; Eye safety; Eye wash; Reactive oxygen species.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: The research reported in this publication was supported by the National Eye Institute of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R21EY033713 (eye wash) and research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R44ES031881 (IVD kit). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. Stewart Lebrun reports a relationship with Lebrun Labs that includes: board membership, equity or stocks, and funding grants. Stewart Lebrun and Linda Nguyen are inventors for patents: Emergency Eye Wash (USPTO Application No. 63/553,989), Formulations and Methods Related to Eye Irritation (USPTO Patent Application Publication No. US20220000838A1); Formulations and Methods Related to Eye Irritation and Related (USPTO Patent Application Publication No. US20230390239A1); Related Formulations and Methods Related to Eye Irritation (USPTO Patent Application Publication No. US20240082214A1). The IVD EIT kit is sold by InChemico, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lebrun Labs LLC. Stewart Lebrun owns Lebrun Labs LLC. Linda Nguyen, Joana Romero, and Roxanne Chan are Lebrun Labs LLC employees.

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