When you are chopping up onions, why do the fumes make your eyes water and sometimes sting?
2007-12-01 10:14:55 · 12 answers · asked by Mak Daddy 1 in Food & Drink ➔ Cooking & Recipes
Onions (and to a lesser degree, garlic and leeks) contain a compound that once pierced (cut with a knife) react with the oxygen to form oxalic acid, which is what makes you watery-eyed.........My solution (none of those "old wives's tales work) is to use swimmer's goggles....looks stupid, but I don't shed a tear when chopping onions......Enjoy, and Happy Holidays
Christopher
2007-12-01 10:24:06 · answer #1 · answered by ? 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Onion Fumes
2017-01-19 17:00:01 · answer #2 · answered by rinkiewicz 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
When you cut an onion, you break cells, releasing their contents. Amino acid sulfoxides form sulfenic acids. Enzymes that were kept separate now are free to mix with the sulfenic acids to produce propanethiol S-oxide, a volatile sulfur compound that wafts upward toward your eyes. This gas reacts with the water in your tears to form sulfuric acid. The sulfuric acid burns, stimulating your eyes to release more tears to wash the irritant away.
2007-12-01 10:22:09 · answer #3 · answered by Dominique 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The act of cutting the onion combines two chemicals to make sulfur.
2007-12-01 10:28:28 · answer #4 · answered by Ginger 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I cry because I'm sad at killing a innocent vegetable, so I eat meat instead.
However, onions are high in sulfur compounds when cut an onion releases a weak sulfuric acid solution.
2007-12-01 10:22:17 · answer #5 · answered by Dave C 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
the fumes rise and mix with the moisture in the eye and create a chemical mixture similar to acid. this causes the burning sensation, which leads the "Cutter" to wipe their eyes intensifying the mixture and making it worse.
2007-12-01 10:21:15 · answer #6 · answered by G3o5d 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Someone in Science could tell you that. You can solve the problem by wearing sunglasses or colored glasses while you chop them since it seems to create a barrier.
2007-12-01 10:18:46 · answer #7 · answered by jenesuispasunnombre 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
the chemical makeup of the onion is so strong and the eyes is really delicate, not a good combonation
2007-12-01 10:18:22 · answer #8 · answered by Checks and Goats 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
the chemical makeup of the onion is so strong and the eyes are really delicate
2007-12-01 10:22:10 · answer #9 · answered by ashley 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
i wear swimming goggles when i cut them... i look like a complete idiot, but no more tears and my makeup stays on thank you very much!!! but the chef from le cordon bleu is absolutely correct!!!!
2007-12-01 10:44:07 · answer #10 · answered by Miss Rhonda 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋