A report in the British Medical Journal says pressure in a 750ml bottle can launch corks at a speed of 80/kmh. Recent UCD alumnus, Dr Ethan Waisberg was one of the doctors involved in the report and he was also interviewed on NewsTalk.
Doctors from the University of Cambridge, University College Dublin and a number of US universities say eye injuries while opening bottles of fizz can be significant. They explain that the pressure in a 750ml bottle of champagne or sparkling wine is about three times that of a standard car tyre, with the potential to launch a cork up to 13 metres at speeds of up to 80 kilometres per hour.
Propelled by CO2, a cork can travel from bottle to eye in less than 0.05 seconds, rendering our blinking reflex ineffective. It means a cork hitting an eye can cause permanent blindness, retinal detachment and lens dislocation.
The authors searched the medical literature for studies that examined the impact of cork-related eye injuries. A 2005 study found that champagne bottle corks were responsible for 20 per cent of eye injuries related to bottle tops in the US, rising to 71 per cent in Hungary. And while many people’s sight improved, the study found that, in 26 per cent of cases, people remained legally blind despite medical treatment.
The above is from the Irish Times article which can be found here.