Injuries to adults and children playing paintball have tripled in recent years, including eye damage causing lasting vision loss, a study found.

From 1997 to 2000, paintball-related injuries nationwide climbed from 926 to 2,780, with up to a third of them occurring in children younger than 15, according to the study, which analyzed injury data from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

In 1999 alone, there were 519 eye injuries among 779 total paintball-related injuries to children under 15. Bleeding and retina detachment were among the most common eye injuries. Many injuries occur because players are not wearing goggles or face masks, said researcher Dr. David Listman of St. Barnabas Hospital in New York.

Doctors should be aware of the dangers and lobby for restrictions in paintball equipment sales to minors, he said. His study appears in January's Pediatrics, published today.

Paintball is a battle game in which players shoot at each other using compressed-gas guns filled with marble-size capsules containing paint. The capsules burst and splatter paint on players who are hit.

AP

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