Benzalkonium chloride (BAC) is the most commonly used preservative in ophthalmic preparations.So far large bodies of clinical and experimental studies have shown that use of topical drugs containing BAC can induce a series of ocular surface diseases, such as apoptosis.However, recently, some clinical studies have shown that ocular toxicity in patients treated with eye drops containing BAC has not apparent correlated with BAC.Some scholars consider that the limitations of the research lead people to recognize the BAC toxicity exaggeratedly.Here we summarize numerous clinical and experimental studies of BAC in the past few years, and focus on reviewing recent researches of the toxic effect of BAC on ocular surface.