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Do Your Sunglasses Provide Adequate UV Protection?
time2022/11/17
- Protection from the sun's harmful UV rays is the most important quality of effective sunglasses, but how can you tell if your sunglasses have UV protection? Read on to learn more.
Protection from the sun's harmful UV rays is the most important quality of effective sunglasses, but how can you tell if your sunglasses have UV protection?
The best way to find out if your sunglasses have ultraviolet (UV) protection is to look for labels, especially labels that say UV 400 or 100% protection against UVA and UVB rays.
Want to make sure your sunglasses protect you from the sun's harmful rays? You can take your sunglasses to an eye care professional, or do some simple tests with your sunglasses to see how well they block UV rays.
Why is UV Protection So Important?
Exposure to the sun's ultraviolet radiation can damage your eyes and endanger your vision.
In particular, cataracts occur when the naturally clear lens in the eye becomes cloudy or opaque, which is associated with sun exposure. Research shows that the more time people spend in the sun, the greater their risk of developing cataracts as they age.
Excessive UV exposure has also been linked to corneal sunburn, retinal tissue damage, macular degeneration, and abnormal growths on the surface of the eye.
Sunglasses that block 100% of UV radiation provide the best protection against these health risks.
When should you wear sunglasses? Wear sunglasses when outdoors during the day, even on cloudy days. Although clouds block some visible light, it doesn't stop harmful ultraviolet light from reaching the Earth's surface.
How Much UV Protection Should Sunglasses Have?
Ideally, you'll want sunglasses with UV 400 protection. UV 400 blocks nearly 100% of the sun's harmful UV rays. This ensures that light with wavelengths up to 400 nanometers, such as UVA and UVB rays, is blocked.
To be considered UV-blocking sunglasses, your sunglasses must block 75% to 90% of visible light and provide UVA and UVB protection to block 99% of UV radiation.
Most sunglasses have labels indicating how much UV protection they offer. Look for labels that say it is 100% UVA and UVB resistant.
Also, sunglasses with larger lenses or wraparound frames can better prevent UV rays from entering your eyes from all angles.
Polarized lenses have special filters that reduce the glare of reflected light, not necessarily UV-blocking lenses.
Bottom Line: It's important to check the label when buying a new pair of sunglasses to ensure 100% UV protection.
Do Dark Sunglasses Have Better UV Protection?
There is no relationship between the color or shade of sunglasses lenses and the amount of UV protection they provide. Lens tint and shade intensity can only tell you how much and what visible light is blocked.
For example, a lighter amber color enhances contrast. Darker amber helps prevent glare, and gray lenses reduce brightness.
Wearing dark lenses may actually put your eyes at greater risk. When you wear darker sunglasses lenses, your pupils dilate and more light enters the back of your eyes than when you don't wear sunglasses at all.
If you prefer to wear sunglasses with darker or darker lenses, make sure they also offer UV 400 protection.
How to Test Sunglasses for UV Protection?
UV-blocking sunglasses block the sun's harmful rays because the lens material or the coating applied to the lenses absorbs UV radiation.
An eye care professional can test your sunglasses in seconds using an instrument called a photometer and tell you exactly how well your sunglasses are protecting your eyes.
You can also try a simple test at home if you have access to a UV flashlight.
How to do it: Shine a UV flashlight on a note. Newer U.S. banknotes contain UV fluorescent fibers that glow when exposed to UV radiation.
Considerations: If the beam from a UV light source causes the fibers to glow even after passing through the lenses of your sunglasses, you'll know that your sunglasses don't provide adequate protection against UV radiation.
Be aware that older sunglasses with scratched lenses may not provide as much sun protection as newer sunglasses, especially if their UV protection is through a coating rather than embedded in the lens.
It's especially important to check your old sunglasses to make sure they continue to keep your eyes healthy while you enjoy the sun. If you want to buy new sunglasses, please contact us.
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