Safe Sunglasses
Sunglasses are a fashion statement, but most importantly,
they protect your eyes. Eye doctors from St. John Health System
said darker glasses may not provide the protection you want.
The depletion of the ozone layer contributes to UV damage
of our eyes. Doctors said it is imperative you get the right
pair of sunglasses.
"I usually recommend ultraviolet filtration in the regular
glasses as well as the contact lenses," Dr. Gerald Mullen,
St. John Health System, said. "Some people don't wear sunglasses,
so this is important for them."
UV protection, however, does not simply mean you should wear
dark glasses. In fact, if you wear darker glasses that do
not have UV filters, you may do your eyes more harm than good.
"Sunglasses,
since they filter the sunlight, tend to cause the pupil to
dilate," Mullen said. "They let more light into the eye and
therefore, it's more important that sunglasses have the ultraviolet
filtration than their regular glasses."
Experts
recommend you get glasses to filter 99 percent to 100 percent
of the sun's damaging rays. To claim their product is UV resistant,
however, manufacturers only have to prove their glasses filter
60 percent of ultraviolet light. What happens when people
work out in the sun and they don't wear the protective glasses
or even protective contact lenses in their eyes?
"Diseases
like macular degeneration, don't appear until people are in
their 60s, also cataracts are the same way so it's an accumulation
of the toxicity from the ultraviolet rays of the sun," Mullen
said.
When
you buy a pair of sunglasses, make sure they meet the UV requirements
set by the American National Standards Institute. If you let
it slip through the cracks, you may regret it.
