why does onion sting your eyes when you cut it??

Long story short, a chemical from the onion is released into the air and makes contact with your tear ducts, which become irritated. For a long answer, check the link below.

Molecules from the onion get into the air, and then into your nose and eyes. It is an irritant, and makes the tears flow. Your question reminded me of a wonderful memory!

Long ago, we divided up the holidays, so Granny did not have to do them. My family got Thanksgiving. I had gotten up early to put the Thanksgiving Turkey in the oven. That year, Thanksgiving fell on the anniversary of the assassination of President Kennedy. I was listening to the radio as I was cutting up the onions for the stuffing. The song on the radio was "Abraham, Martin, and John," which always makes me cry. The song, plus the onions...the tears were flowing! My husband and two small children came into the kitchen. They had never seen me cry! The ran to me and hugged me. Then they started to cry! We four were hugging and crying and the radio was playing, "Has anybody here seen my old friend...?" It was a sweet moment.

Thanks for the memory!

All onion have an acid that defuses in the atmosphere and gets in your eyes and burn them.

Some have more and some have less.

But there is a way to make them more dormant, leave them over night in the refrigerator, ware goggles (air tight) and cut them.

The acid at low temperature is not very active, that is it will not defuse as much.

Do not freeze them.

I think I'm the only person in the world that has never experienced this. I could rub the onions in my eyes and would not tear.

this some acid or chemical is OXALIC ACID with the chemical formula HOOC-COOH

it's fumes irritates the tear glands while we cut the onion and hence the tears..

keep the onions in water while cutting them to avoid them...

happy onion cutting...

When the onion is cut mild sulfuric acid is realeased in gaseous form .

When it reaches eyes , they shed water.

Freeze or place in water just before cutting onion.to reduce crying effect.

I even have controlled many "food institutions"....and by making use of a few distance....the main suitable thank you to deal with onions....is to save them interior the refrigerator......makes a huge difference interior the "tear component" !!! So refrigerate your onions formerly you decrease them !!! ; )

Well if i have not mistaken then it has some kind of acid in it which irritates while cutting it.

its the chemical vapour which activates tear gland n causes tears to flow.....u can first keep in refrigerator n then cut it to prevent the chemical from vapourising

it is from some kind of acid