Eye Biomarkers

It is said that the eye is a window to the soul. Enough evidence exists from modern literature to show that the eye can express effects of various harmful toxins used in industry, arms development and some everyday applications. This article describes how three distinct categories of toxins -- blood toxins, heavy metals and neurotoxins -- present some distinct ocular symptoms or biomarkers. This may help early detection of a person's exposure to a certain toxin. The toxins reviewed in this article cause some form of ocular manifestation, which can be classified according to the affected region of the eye, or by the method of administration or exposure. The more immediate ocular manifestations of carbon monoxide occur at relatively low levels of exposure. For heavy metals, it is observed that arsenic and mercury deliver a large host of external and internal eye signs. Neurotoxins mainly cause miosis as well as target vision.