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TL;DR
This narrative review examines how environmental pollutants, chemicals, and physical factors can damage the human ocular surface, detailing mechanisms, clinical assessment, and protective strategies.
Vision · 6 authors, 3 centres
This summary was generated by AI from a single paper. It has not been reviewed by a clinician and is not clinical advice. Verify against the source before acting on it.
This narrative review examines how environmental pollutants, chemicals, and physical factors can damage the human ocular surface, detailing mechanisms, clinical assessment, and protective strategies.
This narrative review synthesizes information on how the human ocular surface (cornea, conjunctiva, tear film) is vulnerable to damage from environmental and chemical exposures, such as pollutants, pesticides, and cleaning products. It describes clinical assessment methods, including tear production measurement and staining, and cellular mechanisms like oxidative damage and apoptosis. The review discusses outcomes ranging from transient irritation to severe sight-compromising changes and mentions that in vitro and in silico methods are replacing animal testing for safety evaluation. It also references human epidemiological data on eye injury costs and prevalence. The implications emphasize the need for pollution monitoring and protective measures like safety eyewear.