Attendees of the ApeFest event in Hong Kong on November 4, hosted by Yuga Labs, have experienced serious eye issues, with some reporting burns, impaired vision, and severe eye pain attributed to inappropriate lighting used at the venue.
One participant, known online as CryptoJune, recounted an emergency hospital visit due to intense eye pain following the ApeFest. The individual indicated in a November 5th post on X (Twitter) that a doctor had attributed the eye injury to UV light exposure from the stage lights, expressing bewilderment at the incident given their frequent festival attendance without prior similar incidents.
Several attendees specifically pointed out that those who stood near the stage’s lighting fixtures were primarily the ones who reported eye problems. Another guest, using the alias Feld on X, shared experiencing the same kind of eye issues.
Social media posts suggest that at least 15 people out of the hundreds who attended ApeFest have come forward with complaints of vision-related problems, implying that the issue may have affected individuals in close range to the stage lighting. As of the report, Yuga Labs had not yet provided a comment on the matter.
This incident is not the first of its kind in Hong Kong. On October 20, 2017, guests at a HypeBeast party also reported burns and eye damage due to improper UV lighting. It was later disclosed that a contractor for the event had used Philips TUV 30W G30 T8 bulbs, which emit UV-C radiation and are intended for disinfecting purposes, not for public lighting.
The symptoms described by those affected at both events are consistent with photokeratitis, a painful condition resulting from exposure to intense levels of UV radiation. This condition, often seen in welders exposed to UV light from welding torches, can also occur naturally from sunlight reflecting off snow, hence the term snow blindness.
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