When you come to set up your emergency eye wash station in order to protect the sight of your employees, apart from considering which particular system is best for you, it is also very important to think about exactly which kind of liquid you are going to use.  While many users rely only on water to wash foreign objects and chemicals from the eyes of an accident victim, plenty of evidence points towards special eye wash solution providing a much better result.

Unlike water which is pH neutral, eye wash solutions are formulated to match the slightly acid status of the eye.  Like the rest of the body, the tears of a person have a slightly acid pH value in their natural state.  By balancing the eye wash solution against this figure, it is more attuned to the body’s needs.  The solution is able to enhance the action of the tears in flushing the eye, and will work in harmony with the body’s own natural defenses, rather than causing additional physical stress.  The eyes are very sensitive, and can be easily harmed.  While washing away the contaminant, it is wise to use something that is as close to the body’s own natural systems as possible, and this is where saline that has been specially formulated to match the pH of tears is perfect.

The results of a number of medical tests that have been carried out in the last few years to examine the efficacy of eye wash solutions compared to plain water were remarkable.  A test that was done by the ophthalmology team at Louisiana State University found that when eyes were flushed using ordinary tap water, the top 3 layers of the corneal epithelial (the protective layer that covers the delicate areas of the eye) were damaged when tap water was used to flush the eye.  When a pH balanced buffered saline eye wash solution was used, the damage was minimized.  The additional damage caused by the water could jeopardize the healing process, and certainly resulted in a longer time passing before the damage was completely healed.

Although water that is delivered through the mains system is c