The “Welded Contact Lenses” legend is a relatively recent industrial workplace legend involving a terrible accident in the vein of the “Caught in the Couplers” legend and some versions of the “Exploding Butane Lighter” legend. According to the most common telling of the legend, exposure to arc welding flashes can dry the fluid between the eyes and the contact lenses, fusing the two together. Removal of the lenses inescapably causes severe damage, most notably pulling out one’s corneas, which results in blindness. Jan Harold Brunvand cites the tale as a textbook example of the gremlin effect, a term used to describe the generation of rumors and legends detailing the supposed pitfalls and dangers of new technologies. Not coincidentally, then, stories of welded contact lenses have been traced back to 1967, shortly after the mass-market introduction of hydrogel (soft) contact lenses. Despite numerous debunkings from various trade and professional organizations, like the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the story still persists to this day. Ironically, newer versions are less plausible than older ones as the fusing occurs from staring at the fire coals of a backyard barbecue grill.
Although the story traces its roots back nearly two decades, the legend picked up steam in the early 1980s. It was around this time that the rumor spread via flyers proffering capitalized warnings such as “DANGER!!!!!!,” “SHOULD BE POSTED EVERYWHERE,” “PERMANENT BLINDNESS,” and, most dramatically, “TWO RECENT INCIDENTS HAVE UNCOVERED A PREVIOUSLY UNKNOWN PHENOMENON OF SERIOUS GRAVITY.” The incidents related to the final warning read, “At Dequeane [sic] Electric a worker threw an electrical switch into closed position which produced a short-lived sparking” and “An employee at UPS flipped open the colored lens of his welding goggles to better position the welding rod. He inadvertently struck the metal to be welded, producing an arc.” The flyer reveals, in all capital letters, “BOTH MEN WERE WEARING CONTACT LENSES” and went blind after removing them. The most common copy of the flyer pseudoscientifically explains,
The electric arc generates microwaves that instantly dry up the fluid between the eye and the lens, causing the cornea to be bonded to the lens. This trauma is painless, and the operator never knows an injury has occurred until removing the contacts. (Brunvand 2003, 173)
The flyers garnered so much attention that several organizations actively investigated the claims. Liberty Mutual of Boston drafted a loss prevention memo on the issue, finding the claims to be devoid of feasibility. And, as mentioned above, the American Academy of Ophthalmology issued a press release of their own, stating such claims were false. In an oft-quoted statement, ophthalmologist Barry Weiner humorously intoned, “It is a physical impossibility to dry up the fluid in your eyes. You’d have to stick your head in a blast furnace to do that.” Various medical and occupational safety journals continued to comment on the matter through the decade with the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine finding fully two-thirds of companies had adopted contact lens policies contrary to scientific research on the subject. According to the article,
The decision whether or not to allow the use of contact lenses in the industrial environment appeared to be dependent upon the perceived level of risk in a specific environment. More importantly, the current written policies do not appear to recognize the results of recent research. Guidelines for contact lens use in industry are presented. (Randolph and Zavon 1987)
Interestingly, the origin of the legend can be tracked to an actual incident. In July 1967, a welder for Bethlehem Steel in Baltimore experienced an arc flash that hit one of his contact lenses. Upon examination, an ophthalmologist discovered ulcerations on his cornea. The damage was caused by the welder’s wearing of the lenses for nearly a day after the incident. After receiving appropriate medical care, the individual recovered and suffered no permanent eye damage.
Variations of the legend warn against the wearing of contact lenses in chemistry labs because formaldehyde purportedly can seep through gas-porous lenses and cause the fusion. Others suggest contact lenses could fuse to the eye from using inferior sun lamps. On other occasions the victim peers into a microwave oven to cause the fusion. Newer versions of welded contact lenses (or perhaps, more appropriately, melted contact lenses) are currently circulated on the Internet, primarily through social networking sites like Facebook. Most of these accounts erroneously claim that since contact lenses are made of plastic, they can melt from (even low levels of) heat.
Perhaps the resiliency of the welded contact lenses story can be attributed to the fact that the myth neatly captures the inevitability that accidents will happen in dangerous workplaces. The story also reminds us that many accidents are completely preventable when proper precautions are taken.
Todd K. Platts
See also Gremlins; Internet Hoaxes; Melon Heads; Urban Legends/Urban Belief Tales; Xeroxlore
Further Reading
Brunvand, Jan Harold. 1984. The Choking Doberman: And Other ‘New’ Urban Legends. New York: W. W. Norton.
Brunvand, Jan Harold. 1986. The Mexican Pet: More ‘New’ Urban Legends and Some Old Favorites. New York: W. W. Norton.
Brunvand, Jan Harold. 2003. Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid: The Book of Scary Urban Legends. New York: W. W. Norton.
Randolph, Susan A., and Mitchell R. Zavon. 1987. “Guidelines for Contact Lens Use in Industry.” Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine 29 (3): 237–242.