Things to Consider When Choosing Sunglasses

The Turkish Ophthalmology Society (TOS), which draws attention to the fact that sunlight can pave the way for eye diseases, shared that sunglasses are an important protective measure for the eyes during the summer months. TOS, which lists 7 features to be considered when buying sunglasses, advised, “Make sure it has 100% UV protection, prefer large lenses.”

The Turkish Ophthalmology Society, representing Turkish eye doctors, emphasized the importance of using sunglasses in summer months as sunlight reaches more and directly; they shared what should be paid attention to and their recommendations for public health.

Which sunlight is harmful to the eyes?

The human eye is roughly sensitive to the light band between 400 and 760 nanometers coming from the sun. Rays below 400 nanometers from the sun – which is called Ultraviolet (UV) – have negative effects on cells and cell DNA because they contain high energy. The harmful effects of UV rays increase as their wavelength decreases. UV-C, which has the most harmful wavelength, normally does not pass through the ozone layer in the atmosphere. However, if there is damage in the ozone layer, this situation causes the most harmful ray band to reach our world. These harmful rays can pave the way for diseases that threaten our vision ability such as skin cancer around our eyes, deterioration in corneal transparency, cataracts at an earlier age and yellow spot disease on our eyelids. One of the options to protect from all these is to use sunglasses.

What should be considered when buying glasses?

There are features we need to keep in mind for our eye health as well as the cosmetic fit of the sunglasses we buy. Considering these features, we can buy a pair of sunglasses that are both economical, functional, and suit our taste.

• Look at the Ultraviolet (UV) protective label. The most important thing to look for when buying sunglasses is a label indicating that it blocks 100% of UV rays. UV protection is the first rule we need to pay attention to.
• Bigger is better. The more area the sunglasses we plan to buy cover in our eye region, the better they protect. Prefer to buy large-sized glasses that cut/block UV rays coming from the side to the eye.
• Darker lenses do not provide better protection. Even though very dark lenses look cool, they do not block more UV rays. Look not only at the color of the glass but also how much UV it blocks.
• Lens color is not important. Some glasses lenses are various colors such as yellow, green, or gray. They do not block harmful rays better just because they look nice in different colors but they can increase image and color contrast which might be beneficial for those who do sports.
• Polarized lenses prevent reflection, not UV. Polarized sunglasses reduce reflection from reflective surfaces like sea or lake surfaces. Just having polarized feature on the lens does not provide more protection, it is more important for the glasses to have UV protection when buying.
• The cost of glasses is not the most important factor in purchasing. Expensive sunglasses do not mean they are of high quality. Having a label indicating that the glasses block 100% UV is more important than the price of the glasses. Glasses with reasonable prices also have this feature.
• Check quality standards. Pay attention to whether the sunglasses you will buy have quality standards such as TSE, CE mark.