# At what temperatures do eyes (surface fluid) and skin freeze? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 13, 2013, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-temperatures-do-eyes-surface-fluid-and-skin-freeze/647067 "2013-01-13T16:37:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-temperatures-do-eyes-surface-fluid-and-skin-freeze/647067/21 "2013-01-14T06:00:26Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > And I always thought I was imagining that. It gives you much mouth too, and makes you sound really funny when you try to talk 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-temperatures-do-eyes-surface-fluid-and-skin-freeze/647067/22 "2013-01-14T06:02:20Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > I have heard of eyeballs freezing; apparently it’s something polar workers and himalayists are used to taking into account and one of the reasons to keep your googles on (newbies tend to take them off because they mist up at first). It’s pretty weird, hearing someone tell how they were climbing and, when they complained about the mist, their cordmates said “but
 it’s sunny! Oh SHIT, your eyeballs are freezing! We’re going back _now_.” Even weirder when the next sentence is “the other times my eyeballs started freezing I was able to recognize the symptoms right away and stave it off.” Corneas freezing, yes, eyeballs, no, assuming that one would cover protect one’s eyes upon noticing the corneas freezing up. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-temperatures-do-eyes-surface-fluid-and-skin-freeze/647067/23 "2013-01-14T06:15:50Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > I expect that eyeballs have a greater salt content than seawater, but just a guess. I don’t either but I assumed the opposite. The salt content of blood is well below ocean levels. Tears seem salty, but I believe they’re not really saltier than other body fluids, but I don’t remember where I heard that. They do come from several glands near the eye though. This[wiki link](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aqueous_humor)didn’t help either. I think it would be difficult to concentrate salt in some part of the body like that. The salt would tend to migrate through the cells in the different layers of material that make up the eye. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-temperatures-do-eyes-surface-fluid-and-skin-freeze/647067/24 "2013-01-14T06:16:00Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > If you ask someone coming in from outside what the weather it like, you are entering frostbite territory when they reply “It’s cold as fuck,” as opposed to “It’s cold.” \ That’s what, about -25ÂșC? We should create a Canadian temperature scale. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-temperatures-do-eyes-surface-fluid-and-skin-freeze/647067/25 "2013-01-14T06:48:17Z")
Yup. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-temperatures-do-eyes-surface-fluid-and-skin-freeze/647067/26 "2013-01-14T14:37:01Z")
> [@Jenaroph](#): > > I know it’s less than 10F when you walk outside and your boogers freeze. Ha, I was going to say that. When I lived in an area that could get down to -35F in the winter, that was my metric, too: at ~0F, the inside of my nose freezes. Pretty handy poor man’s thermometer. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-temperatures-do-eyes-surface-fluid-and-skin-freeze/647067/27 "2013-01-14T15:17:15Z")
What is the salt content of tears and what temperature would water of that salinity freeze at? What ambient temperature is the eyeball at considering there are no blood vessels in the cornea? ---
**Author:** ![Xerxes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/d2c977/32.png) [@Xerxes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xerxes)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-temperatures-do-eyes-surface-fluid-and-skin-freeze/647067/28 "2013-01-16T13:39:43Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > We should create a Canadian temperature scale. 😃 I was sent this one by a Canadian friend of mine 🙂 * * * The Official Canadian Temperature Conversion Chart: 50 Fahrenheit (10 C) Californians shiver uncontrollably. Canadians plant gardens. 35 Fahrenheit (1.6 C) Italian Cars won’t start Canadians drive with the windows down 32 Fahrenheit (0 C) American water freezes Canadian water gets thicker. 0 Fahrenheit (-17..9 C) New York City landlords finally turn on the heat. Canadians have the last cookout of the season. -60 Fahrenheit (-51 C) Santa Claus abandons the North Pole. Canadian Girl Guides sell cookies door-to-door. -109.9 Fahrenheit (-78.5 C) Carbon dioxide freezes makes dry ice. Canadians pull down their earflaps. -173 Fahrenheit (-114 C) Ethyl alcohol freezes. Canadians get frustrated when they can’t thaw the keg -459.67 Fahrenheit (-273.15 C) Absolute zero; all atomic motion stops. Canadians start saying “cold, eh?” -500 Fahrenheit (-295 C) Hell freezes over. The Toronto Maple Leafs win the Stanley Cup. ---
**Author:** ![Anaglyph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Anaglyph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaglyph)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-temperatures-do-eyes-surface-fluid-and-skin-freeze/647067/29 "2013-01-16T13:47:24Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > I expect that eyeballs have a greater salt content than seawater, but just a guess. No, salt concentration in sea water is around 30 g/L, should freeze around -2° C physiological salt concentration is around 9 g/L, should freeze around -0.7° C ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-temperatures-do-eyes-surface-fluid-and-skin-freeze/647067/30 "2013-01-16T14:24:14Z")
> [@Anaglyph](#): > > No, salt concentration in sea water is around 30 g/L, should freeze around -2° C > physiological salt concentration is around 9 g/L, should freeze around -0.7° C A good brine for protein is 50 g/L. So crying 5.5 times as hard–prepping super onions as CN agent?–and distillation may shorten kitchen time. What is the maximum tear-exudation rate? Which, come to think of it, is in fact pertinent to OP (as opposed to this point, technically speaking). For anyone interested, by far the best, longest, and scientifically (within reason) rich info on-line on brining are the [Science Behind Brining](https://stellaculinary.com/podcasts/video/the-science-behind-brining-resource-page) text and video pages by the chef Jacob Burton. ---
**Author:** ![FluffyBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecb155/32.png) [@FluffyBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FluffyBob)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-temperatures-do-eyes-surface-fluid-and-skin-freeze/647067/31 "2013-01-16T14:42:16Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > 
 > > A funny thing that people who aren’t used to the cold might not know about; when you’ve been out in the cold for a while, your face muscles slow down. You smile, and it takes a bit for your smile to come back down again. 😃 I have never noticed this. Ive done a lot of winter mountaineering, camped in very cold temperatures for weeks at a time and been on extremely windy ridges where exposed flesh would be in trouble in seconds, and framed houses in -35 (thats before windchill folks). I guess I am always geared up in such weather and so dont get that kind of chill. Chilled muscle certainly does slow down and when I notice that it means it is time to take action. Have to watch out for that slow chill. Or maybe I just do not smile enough. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-temperatures-do-eyes-surface-fluid-and-skin-freeze/647067/32 "2013-01-16T18:26:36Z")
> [@Anaglyph](#): > > No, salt concentration in sea water is around 30 g/L, should freeze around -2° C > physiological salt concentration is around 9 g/L, should freeze around -0.7° C Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-temperatures-do-eyes-surface-fluid-and-skin-freeze/647067/33 "2013-01-16T22:23:45Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > That’s what, about -25ÂșC? > > We should create a Canadian temperature scale. 😃 I believe the scale goes (from high to low) [ul] [li]Welldigger’s ass[/li][li]Witch’s tit[/li][li]Cold as fuck[/li][li]Freezin’ Ass[/li][/ul] I played a rugby match when the advertised temp (with wind chill) was -74F (about -60C) and my eyelashes froze shut a couple of times. A couple of morons played with exposed skin on their legs and they were hospitalized for frostbite. The ref was useless because the first time he tried to blow his whistle it froze to his lips! ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2013, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-temperatures-do-eyes-surface-fluid-and-skin-freeze/647067/34 "2013-01-20T21:40:10Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > You’re quite mad - you know that, don’t you? 😉 Hey, a fellow has have goals! Including wind chill, skiing today was -50 F. Needed a full coverage mask. One of the guys came back in to put a mask on after one run without. Didn’t have frostbite, but was on the verge (white patches) after a two minute run. Was wandering about in a light fleece sweater at -15 F (no wind) after skiing for about ten minutes bleeding off body heat. No need for skin protection at that temperature for a fairly short time. Wind chill (or lack thereof) makes all the difference in the world – very important to never under-estimate it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/at-what-temperatures-do-eyes-surface-fluid-and-skin-freeze/647067.md?page=1)