UV lights blamed for eventgoers’ eye pain and skin irritation

More than 20 people have reported burning eye pain, vision problems and skin irritation after attending a party for NFT owners in Hong Kong on 4 November.

An estimated 2,500 crypto enthusiasts were at the event at Kai Tak Cruise Terminal, which was part of ApeFest, a three-day event hosted by Bored Ape Yacht Club.

Louise Conroy, a spokeswoman for Yuga Labs, the parent company of Bored Ape Yacht Club, told the New York Times she is in contact with 22 people who suffered eye problems after attending the event.

Although the cause of the symptoms has not yet been determined, she said there were some potential culprits: “At this point, we’re looking into fluorescent paint in one of our setup areas, and most definitely looking at UV light.”

Several people who attended the party took to X (formerly Twitter) to post about experiencing pain and problems with their eyesight.

“Anyone else’s eyes burning from last night?” posted user Feld4014. “Woke up at 3am with extreme pain and ended up in the ER.”

Anyone else’s eyes burning from last night? Woke up at 3am with extreme pain and ended up in the ER.

I saw a couple reports but just trying to figure out if there was a common thread.

— FΞLD | mrbayc.eth (@Feld4014) November 5, 2023

“I woke up at 04:00 and couldn’t see any more. Had so much pain and my whole skin is burned. Needed to go to the hospital,” responded user CryptoJune777. “The doctor told me the UV of the lighting of the stage did it. It has the same effect as sunlight. Still cannot see normally.”

Another partygoer, Adrian Zdunczyk, was diagnosed with photokeratitis at an eye clinic in Hong Kong on Monday and given lubricating eye drops.

[For information purposes only]

So far, 30 hours since woke up with severe eye burn, I’ve visited emergency hospital and eye clinic and spent there a total of 6 hours.

Got diagnosed with “photokeratitis over both eyes, accident related” with prescribed steroid eye drops and eye… https://t.co/qZadVqsQFg pic.twitter.com/5EULptCR4H

— Adrian Zduńczyk, CMT (@crypto_birb) November 6, 2023

Dr Will Flanary, an ophthalmologist in the US city of Portland, agreed that the symptoms being described on social media pointed to “a classic case” of photokeratitis – damage to the cornea caused by prolonged exposure to UV light.

Images and videos from the party show a stage with a DJ booth directing neon purple lights at the crowd. In another room, tubular lights mounted on the ceiling shone on to several decorative toilets.

“I’ve seen several photos of the stage from this and these vertical lights are the same colour in all of them (ie they’re not RGB LED tape),” commented user Ross Henderson-McKillop. “Please tell me some moron didn’t use sub 300nm UV again?!?”

Yuga Labs spokesperson Emily Kitts said: “We are actively reaching out and in touch with those affected to better understand the root cause.”