I got HP printer ink in my eye, am I okay?

October 26, 2009 12:59 AM

I got HP printer ink in my eye, am I okay?

So my HP printer squirted ink into one of my eyes somehow.

Half my eye was black!

I immediately removed my contacts and washed my eye out with water followed by a lot of flushing with eye drops.

Looks like all the ink is out (dont see anymore blackness) but now my eye is red/irritated.

I got the part number on the ink cartridge and looked up the MSDS on it:

http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/globalcitizenship/environment/productdata/Countries/us/ij_cc640series_us_eng_v11.pdf

Has this ever happened to anyone before? Do you think it will cause blindness or anything serious?

posted by stlboi to health & fitness (6 comments total)

This is exactly what poison control hotlines are for. Call yours.

I suspect they'll pull up that MSDS themselves and tell you to flush your eyes with plenty of water and only see a doctor if problems develop. That's what they told me when I got a blob of liquid mercury in my eye.
posted by hattifattener at 1:19 AM on October 26 [2 favorites]

(And, FWIW, I wouldn't worry. Water and carbon black won't hurt you, and the toxicity of the emulsifiers-or-whatever that the MSDS lists seem to be in the "just don't eat it like sugar" range. IANAD.)
posted by hattifattener at 1:29 AM on October 26

Provided the irritation doesn't persist for more than an hour or two, you'll be fine. Printer ink is subject to quite strict controls on toxicity, so it doesn't contain anything that's likely to do anything more than cause irritation.
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 3:03 AM on October 26

On the plus side most inks contain pennicillium to prevent mold growth...
posted by Gungho at 6:01 AM on October 26

In case you are wondering here is the HP Ink Material Data Safety Sheets.

Unfortunately, there is too many variations of the cartridges to say definitely, but most of them seem to say the following:

"Do not rub eyes. Immediately flush with large amounts of clean, warm water (low pressure) for at least 15 minutes or until particles are removed. If irritation persists get medical attention."

Please however call your poison control center or at least find the right MSDS for your printer and verify that.
posted by mmascolino at 7:36 AM on October 26

Thank you guys! I'm okay!
posted by stlboi at 1:02 AM on October 29