Popping bubbly to ring in 2024 may be more dangerous than partiers think, as an international team of ophthalmology experts spread awareness of cork-induced eye injuries ahead of the holiday, calling for the proliferation of screw-on caps among Champagne and sparkling winemakers.
The high-pressured bottle stoppers help maintain the hallmark fizz of the celebratory drink — with the capacity to ruin any party as the cork catapults from its vessel at up to nearly 50 miles per hour.
Dr. Ethan Waisberg
“A cork can travel from bottle to eye in less than 0.05 seconds, making the blinking reflex ineffective.”
A blunt force eye injury at that speed can cause permanent blindness, retinal detachment and lens dislocation, “among other conditions,” researchers wrote.
Among the data cited, the authors highlighted a 2005 international study that found bottle corks responsible for 20% of eye injuries related to pressurized drinks in the US.
Meanwhile, wine drinkers in Hungary — a major wine-producing country — blamed corks for a whopping 71% of such accidents. While the vision for some victims returned, 26% of those injured by bottle corks eventually qualified for legal blindness.
Their warning comes four years after reality star Theo Campbell, of “Love Island” fame, was blinded in one eye after a rogue bottle cork struck him. Despite two eye surgeries to repair his “split” eyeball, he did not recover his vision.