[Vi]

I certainly wear gloves now if i'm going to do much with chilies, but I don't bother de-seeding them any more   Or drying them for that matter

Back on the onions though, I've heard that most of the 'make you cry juices' in the onion are near the root base but that could just be hog wash

[catllar]

there you are then , if people as far apart as australia and france say the rooty bit is the dangerous bit ,  there must be some truth in it! LOL! AVOID THE ROOT

[RichardA]

same as Spike Milligan's remedy for sea sickness - sit under a tree
R

[mumofstig]

Jamie Oliver was chopping onions, can't remember what for, and he had heard that it was the near the root that was the problem, but as he said, 'I'm still crying' and there he was on TV tears running down his face AHH Bless

[andreadon]

you're supposed to slice them sideways as far as the root, but not into the root, then slice across.
i suck a teaspoon.
it does work a little bit, because when i couldn't suck one once, i had tears everywhere!