Why do our eyes burn and tear when we cut onions?

Why do our eyes burn and tear when we cut onions? This listener question will be discussed in this episode. I can now be reached on twitter under @ChemistryinEve1 , if you have feedback that you would like to share. Alternatively, you can send an email to [email protected] . Sources https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tear_gas https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reizstoff https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zwiebel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onion https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syn-Propanethial-S-oxide https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propanthialoxid https://www.britannica.com/story/why-do-onions-make-you-cry https://www.thoughtco.com/why-do-onions-make-you-cry-604309 https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/06/170620122950.htm http://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/motm/pso/psoc.htm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alliinase https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alliin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cysteine#Biological_functions