SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - A Yellowknife woman is warning people about using glow sticks in sub-zero weather.

After attending the Santa Claus Parade on Saturday night Heidi Cromwell snapped a glow stick only to have the plastic break and the chemical inside spray into her eyes.

A Yellowknife doctor is warning people to exercise caution when cracking a glow stick in cold weather. - Ian Vaydik/NNSL photo

"They say it's non-toxic but it felt like acid," said Cromwell.

She had received the glow stick from one of the groups at the parade who were handing them out. The -30 C weather wasn't ideal for the plastic tube.

"It broke like a bread stick," said Cromwell. "They aren't made for this weather."

She flushed her eyes out with water but because the pain continued, she decided to go into the emergency room at Stanton Territorial Hospital.

"We saw a couple injuries that night from people whose glow sticks had burst when they tried to activate them," said Dr. David Pontin, emergency room physician at the hospital.

At the emergency room Pontin managed to flush the chemical out of her eyes with help of a Morgan lens, which acts like a contact lens attached to a bag of saline.

When Pontin called the Poison and Drug Information Service in Calgary on Saturday they informed him that they had cases of glow sticks breaking and spraying in people's eyes in Alberta as well.

"It seems we're not the only place having this problem," said Pontin.

The chemical in glow sticks that causes the tube to illuminate is diphenylanthracene.

Although the chemical is not lethal, it can cause irritation, especially when exposed to the eyes.

Pontin recommends people be careful when activating glow sticks in cold temperatures.

"People need to be cautious, I don't want to be a party pooper," said Pontin. "My kids love them."

Even with all the pain, Cromwell was grateful that she was the one to break the stick.

"I'd hate for this to happen to someone else," said Cromwell.

"I don't know how they would have helped a child get it out."

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