Can I test my sunglasses UV protection?

Question

I bought a cheap pair of frames (on Ebay) with clip on sun glasses. I wasn't aware of the UV protection issue and the retailer did not specify if it has protection (or what level of protection). Is there a way for me to check it out? Does it really make a difference?

Thanks.

Answer 1

Standards

There are three sunglass standards.[8]

The Australian Standard is AS 1067. The five sunglass ratings under this standard are based on the amount of light they absorb, 0 to 4, with “0” providing some protection from UV radiation and sunglare, and “4” a high level of protection.

The US standard is ANSI Z80.3-1972. According to the ANSI Z80.3-2001 standard, the compliable lens should have a UVB (280 to 315nm) transmittance of no more than one per cent and a UVA (315 to 380nm) transmittance of no more than 0.5 times of the visual light transmittance

The European standard is EN 1836:2005. The four ratings are 0 for insufficient UV protection, 1 for sufficient UV protection, 2 for good UV protection and 3 for full UV protection.

Follow these guidelines from the UK College of Optometrists:

Wear good quality, dark sunglasses and check that they are up to standard. Good sunglasses needn’t be expensive, you can buy perfectly adequate protective sunglasses from high street stores, but just follow a few guidelines.

Make sure the sunglasses offer a safe level of UV protection - ask for proof that they conform to international safety standards.

Do a simple quality test before buying. Hold the sunglasses at arms length and tilt them slightly. Then focus on an object in the distance, move them up and down and see if there is any distortion, especially at the lens edges. If the lenses are good high quality, there should be no movement.

Don’t confuse the shade of the lens with their ability to filter UV rays. Dark sunglasses may still allow UV rays to enter the eye and can be more harmful than wearing no glasses at all, because they cause the pupil of the eye to dilate, which allows more UV rays to enter.

When buying sunglasses to use when driving, make sure they are in the filter category of 0-3. A lens carrying a filter category of 4 will be too dark for safe driving. Never wear sunglasses while driving at night or in poor light.

Don’t discard sunglasses in the winter, especially in places like Dubai. The sun’s UV rays can be present in high enough levels to warrant protection throughout the year.

Get children into the habit of wearing sunglasses from an early age. There are many ranges suitable for youngsters with fun colours and elasticated bands to keep them in place.

Answer 2

There is no way to really check it out at home. You could take it to any optical store and ask them to check it. Most places have a UV meter.

But you can be 99% certain it already has the UV filter in it.

Even the cheapie pharmacy sunglasses give adequate UV protection , although the lenses may be full of distortion.

Clip-ons give a false sense of security though because they are usually quite small and allow a lot of UV light to get in around the sides to your pupils that will be slightly dilated because of the dark lens in front.

Try to always wear a peaked cap when wearing the clips.

Just the clips without more protection is worse than no sunglass at all.

EDIT **

Yes, you understood correctly...lol

Most regular eyeglass frames won't have a wrap around effect or cover a large enough area to make a real safe sunglass with a clip on them. But if yours are big, and sit in real close to your eyes, they may be very good.

Answer 3

Are you also planning on having prescription lenses put into the frame? If so get polycarbonate lenses, that will also increase your UV protection as they are UV protective inherent to the material. (it will also give you great eye safety, due to it's high impact resistance).