World Sunglasses Day

When thinking about sun protection, most people reach for sun cream. But don't forget your sunglasses! Taking care of your eyes is just as important as preventing sunburn on your skin.

The sun can seriously damage your eyes if they’re not protected. Over time, exposure to UV rays can increase your risk of cataracts, because UV radiation damages proteins in the eye’s lens.

There's also evidence that UV damage can raise the risk of macular degeneration, a leading cause of age-related blindness. Sun exposure is linked to eye cancer and a temporary, painful eye condition called photokeratitis, which feels like a sunburn on your eyes and can cause blotchy vision.

Certain situations make sun-related eye damage worse, like being around water, snow, or car windshields, because they can reflect more light into your eyes. That's why skiers need the highest protection sunglasses!

Now that we know the importance of wearing sunglasses, let’s see what you should look out for when buying a pair.

• UV400 can filter out 99% of UVA and UVB rays. Today, most sunglasses with UV400 will have this protection embedded into the lens and not coated on top of it.

Do all sunglasses have UV400 protection?

• Not all sunglasses will have UV400. Be careful! Dark-tinted sunglasses don't necessarily provide a good level of protection. Remember, even though they might be fashionable, they may not be providing any protection for your eyes.

How to tell if a pair of sunglasses offers UV protection

• You can see if sunglasses have UV400, by looking at the frame.. It should have a CE, UKCA, or UV400 mark. The CE Mark shows that the sunglasses confirm with EU health, safety, and environmental requirement, meaning they’ll provide a good level of for your eyes. The UKCA mark is the British standard. The level of the lens shade which ranges from 0-4 should also be on the frame, for example, ‘C3’ followed by ‘CE’.

The categories in sunglasses are:

Category 0 — clear or very light lenses for fashion and indoor use
Category 1 — pale lenses for overcast days
Category 2 — moderate lenses for protection against glare
Category 3 — dark lenses for bright days (the most common category)
Category 4 — very dark lenses for intense sunshine (i.e. on mountains and glaciers)

But did you know that category 4 is illegal to drive in? These are used more for snowboarding or skiing, as they only let in less than 8% of UV light.

UV protection:
When buying a pair of sunglasses look out for the ‘UV400’ mark. This will normally be on a sticker or on the rims of the glasses. If you’re unsure, your nearest optician should be able to help you.

Polarised:
Polarised lenses don’t protect against UV. It does help with glare, which can be a good choice if you will be using the sunglasses to drive.

Price:
Expensive glasses, doesn't necessarily equal good protection. Just look out for UV400’ - you don’t need to spend a lot of money to get good protection for your eyes!

Tint:
You may think that the darker the tint on your sunglasses, the better they will be at protecting your eyes. But tint doesn’t protect you from UV! However, tint can help during certain activities to see better and reduce eye fatigue.

So remember to protect your eyes from UV light, whether it’s sunny or cloudy. And never look directly at the sun as it can cause permanent damage to the retina at the back of the eyes and subsequent loss of vision. Be aware, be safe and be happy 😎

Test out your knowledge on sunglasses to see how much you know!

Question 1:
What does UV stand for?

Question 2:
What level of sunglasses protection is illegal to drive in?

Question 3:
Which is the bestselling pair of sunglasses?

Question 4:
Which mark should you look out for when buying glasses?

* The study conducted was done by SightSavers in partnership with People’s Postcode Lottery. Who commissioned a survey and found 90 per cent of British people wear sunglasses, but less than half (40 per cent) wear them to protect their eyes from UV damage.

To read about what Orbis are doing to tackle trachoma in Ethiopia, read here.

Photo: Braden, 12 year old from Accra who had Strabismus.