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Bartender Gets Burned While Margarita Making

While sharks and sunburn may seem like the more obvious perils of summer, there's another danger that's lurking: margarita making. The Atlantic recently reported on the case of a bartender who ended up with large blisters, simply from squeezing limes and being in the sun.

This is another case of phytophotodermatitis from exposure to lime juice.

This is another case of phytophotodermatitis from exposure to lime juice.

Photo Credit: Katykidk, via Wikimedia Commons

According to The Atlantic, in June, Justin Fehntrich was bartending for a fundraiser on a Fire Island estate, and squeezed a pile of limes for cocktails. He then spent hours bartending in the sun. A few days later, his hand developed large blisters and he was headed to the hospital.

The condition is technically called phytophotodermatitis, but it's also called "Margarita burn" or even "lime disease," the Atlantic notes. It occurs when folks are first exposed to certain botanicals -- commonly, limes -- that make the skin super-senstive to light, and are then are exposed to sunlight.

Medscape notes that blistering begins about a day after exposure, peaking two to three days later.

Three weeks after his diagnosis, Fehntrich sported tight, bright pink skin, The Atlantic reported -- and a regional VP of the U.S. Bartenders' Guild agrees more education about the hazard is called for.

Read the full Atlantic article here.

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