This is a hoot -

[hedgehog]

so, I've been trying to go organic with my personal care - no more mineral oil, no petroleum jelly, nothing I couldn't pronounce. Only good stuff like shea butter and bee's wax.

So my optometrist recommended I use a special lubricant gel on my eyes at night. Ingredients: petroleum jelly and mineral oil!

I guess the theory is to get something that will act to coat the cornea and help float away debris without supporting bacteria.

[Warpy]

1. While the desire to be pure and simple might be a laudable one

there is nothing better for lubricating the eye than methylcellulose and it's crazy to put anything non sterile in there if you don't have a functional immune system. You only get one set of eyes and the safest thing is to use sterile lubricants containing methylcellulose.

[zbdent]

2. Did you ask your optometrist if there is an alternative you can use?

maybe he/she would have access to another possibility ...

Wouldn't hurt to find out.

[marybourg]

3. I guess I no longer understand the meaning

of the word "organic". When I took Organic Chemistry, back in pre-history, organic meant a compound made of carbon, the same element we are made of. As far as I know petroleum jelly is the very archetype of an organic product and mineral oil is a distillate of hydrocarbons. I'm not advocating for them, but unless the meaning of the word has changed, both products you mention are very much organics, in their natural state have been in use for decades, and were generally considered safe and conservative -- and natural -- treatments.

[hedgehog]

4. When applied to products designed for human consumption, organic

more typically refers to items produced without the use of added chemicals. It gets fuzzy, because of course rennet is added to milk to make cheese, and beer is a result of careful fermentation, etc. I might almost say that in this context, "organic" refers to items produced without the use of petro-chemicals. Rather ironic, but there it is!