What is it about contact lens solution that makes it non-vegan?

[KimberlyNYC]

:confused: And what's a good vegan brand to use?

[skanky]

Yes, please. Do tell. This is news to me.

[Vicky]

my GUESS would be animal testing ... i think they always test stuff (on animals) before letting people put it into their eyes ...

[remilard]

Most of the brands test on animals, this is the only reason AFAIK but I could be wrong.

Clear Conscience is not tested on animals, is otherwise cruelty free and is sold at Whole Foods, Wild Oats etc. It is $11ish a bottle which seems pretty comparable to the name brand mainstream stuff. The only other solution I have used was the free stuff I got (goes for about $8 per bottle in the stores) and I think the Clear Conscience works better than that so it seems like a pretty fair price.

[brahmacharya]

Thanks for this thread; I had no idea.

[Kimberly]

Geez, I read about this. Now I just have to remember where. There IS an ingredient in eye care solution that is not vegan. Drat. I'm gonna go check the last things I read to see if I can find it.

[Kimberly]

Haha, didn't take me long to find it. It was in the latest Herbivore edition (I love this magazine!). Page 15, 5 Reasons You Hadn't Thougt of to Go Vegetarian, excerpted from 101 Reasons Why I'm a Vegetarian by Pamela Rice (Lantern Books, 2005).

(relevant excerpt):

"Brain-power supplements, contact lens care products,* steroids, anti-coagulant drugs, and cosmetics, for instance, are made, respectively, from brains, liver enzymes, adrenal glands, mucosa, and placenta--all derived from high-risk fluids and tissues of the cow.

*Note: Steve Woodward, "Cattle byproducts are found in hundreds of products from soap to drugs," Knight-Ridder/Tribune, Jan. 4, 2004."

As for the question are there some that don't contain liver enzyme, I have no idea--I don't use lens care solution and haven't researched it.

[catgurrl978]

Liver enzymes. *shudder* I have contacts (well, technically I only wear one) and had heard that solution wasn't vegan but I assumed it was because of testing and thought there was no way around it. Thanks Kimberly for the reason and remilard for a solution :)

[Flurry]

Eeek... I'm putting animal products in my eye?!

We can barely get decent vegetarian and vegan food down here, let alone contact lense solution...

[Mskedi]

--

[veggiewriter]

I buy the Clear Conscience solution for $10/bottle and run it through my Section 125 account at work. Otherwise, I'd be mad about the price, since the stuff I used to buy (generic no-rub saline solution from Target or Walgreen's) only cost $3.50/bottle. That's quite a difference.

[remilard]

Clear Conscience is no rub, and animal product free.

[rabid_child]

Just a note, you should NEVER switch contact lense solutions without first consulting with your eyecare professional!

I use monthly disposables and I never use enzyme tablets (don't have to). My old yearly contacts you had to enzyme weekly to get rid of protein buildup. I think if you're that concerned, think about daily disposables, and you wouldn't need any cleaning solution. Maybe just a little sterile saline, which is just salt water anyway.

[Flurry]

I use Clear Care, which is a bit different than your average rubbing contact solution. There is a little metal thing in the contact case, and when the solution is added, it causes a reaction, and the bubbles created from that reaction clean the lenses. It takes six hours for the stuff to become safe for your eyes. It apparently burns like heck if you don't wait those six hours or if you use it straight...

:-/ I'm still a little worried.

[rabid_child]

I use Clear Care, which is a bit different than your average rubbing contact solution. There is a little metal thing in the contact case, and when the solution is added, it causes a reaction, and the bubbles created from that reaction clean the lenses. It takes six hours for the stuff to become safe for your eyes. It apparently burns like heck if you don't wait those six hours or if you use it straight...

:-/ I'm still a little worried.

Its probably the same as Aosept, which I use. It's got hydrogen peroxide, and the little disk neutralizes the peroxide, hence the bubbles, and the waiting 6 hrs. Otherwise you'll put peroxide in your eye, and it will burn like the devil.

[Satya]

Excellent question. Good to know. I'll start getting the Clear Conscience from Whole Foods.