Selecting sunglasses by type of protection. Which UV protection is better? What you need to know about glasses with a UV filter? Radiation protection levels

To make the right choice, you need to understand that sunglasses have become one of the most important style-shaping accessories; Almost no major fashion show can do without them. As a result, many consumers today perceive sunglasses primarily as a certain element of style, often completely unjustifiably forgetting about their main purpose.

Tip 2. When planning to purchase new glasses, decide where and when you are going to wear them. If you need glasses for sports - this is one story (see section), if you are preparing to spend the summer months at sea or in the mountains - another, if you intend to use sunglasses mainly in the city - third. Well, if you spend a lot of time driving and would like to use glasses to make driving more comfortable, then this is a separate, fourth story (see). Having decided on the purpose of the glasses, you will thereby narrow the boundaries of your search and will sooner find for yourself exactly the option that would optimally meet your individual needs.

Tip 3. The effectiveness of using sunglasses and recommendations for their use are determined by indicating the category of sunglasses filter, the light transmission of which corresponds to the spectacle lenses. The filter category is usually indicated on the inside of the temple in front of the “CE” mark (this marking indicates that the product meets European quality standards) and is designated by a number from 0 to 4. The higher the filter category, the less light transmittance of the lenses. The characteristics of filters of different categories are clearly presented in the table below.

Characteristics of filters of different categories

If you need glasses to look impressive even on the gloomiest day or simply to hide signs of fatigue on your face, you can easily get by with glasses with a first category filter

In general, brown, gray and green lenses are considered the most comfortable for the eyes.

The intense coloring of sun lenses alone does not guarantee UV protection

Tip 7. If, while driving on a bright sunny day, you have ever found yourself in unpleasant situations due to blinding reflected light, sunglasses with polarized lenses may be the best solution for you (for more details, see:). They will be useful not only for motorists, but also for those who spend a lot of time outdoors in conditions of excessive solar radiation - on the beach, in the mountains, or doing winter sports. The polarizing filter of these glasses allows you to completely eliminate the annoying glare that occurs when light is reflected from smooth, flat, shiny surfaces. I would like to make just one amendment regarding motorists: it is not recommended for them to wear glasses with polarized lenses at night. They reduce the glare from oncoming headlights, but also reduce the amount of light reaching the eye that the driver needs to ensure safe driving;

If, while driving on a bright sunny day, you have ever found yourself in unpleasant situations due to blinding reflected light, glasses with polarized lenses may be the best solution for you.

Tip 9. If you wear corrective glasses, you can use the following methods to protect your eyes from the sun: you can insert corrective sun lenses into a frame suitable for this purpose, or use sun clips that are worn over corrective glasses. Some companies, such as Polaroid Eyewear, offer sun clips with a polarizing filter. Today there is a large assortment of sun clips with various fastening systems, including convenient magnetic fastening. From a financial point of view, the option with clips is more economical than the option of purchasing corrective sunglasses.

Today there is a large assortment of sun clips with various fastening systems.

Sunglasses protect from visible and invisible components of light, primarily from ultraviolet rays, which cause a variety of eye diseases: snow blindness, photokeratitis, cataracts and others.

Much more common are UV 380 glasses, which filter only 95% of ultraviolet radiation.

Sunglasses are especially necessary for children, as their delicate lenses receive more ultraviolet radiation than adults.

Checking sunglasses

To check whether the glasses protect well, you need to measure them at the manufacturer or with special optical equipment. For example, manufacturers often mark standard UV protection ratings on their glasses.

The protection can only be directly checked by contact. The tighter the lenses of the glasses fit to the face (but not too tight so that the eyelashes do not touch the lenses), the less light they let in around the edges. Wide temples and leather trim can be used for the same purpose.

The protection of the lenses themselves is impossible to see. Wherein dark lenses do not always filter ultraviolet radiation better than light. It even happens the other way around - dark lenses dilate the pupils more than light ones, and more ultraviolet radiation gets into the eyes. But dark lenses actually filter ordinary visible light better than light ones.

UV protection also does not depend on the color of the lenses. But you can tell by the color whether they filter blue light. For example, blue And green lenses do not filter blue light, but yellow And brown- on the contrary, they filter too much, which leads to color distortion and can be dangerous when driving.

You can visually check for the presence of polarization: to do this, you need to look through your glasses at a reflective non-metallic horizontal surface and rotate them along the longitudinal axis. The intensity of the glare increases when the glasses are positioned vertically, and decreases (up to extinction) when positioned horizontally.

Degree of protection

• Light Category 1 80 - 43% light transmission - for wearing in cloudy weather and as a fashion accessory.
• Average Category 2 43 - 18% light transmission - suitable for wearing in the city and for driving a car.
• Strong Category 3 18 - 8% light transmission - for protection from bright daytime sun.
• Maximum Category 4 8 - 3% light transmission - for maximum protection in high mountains, at ski resorts, in the snowy Arctic in summer. They are not intended for driving a car, as they are difficult to see when moving from light to shadow.
• Outside the norm - less than 3% - are extremely dark glacial glasses and special radiation protection glasses, such as welder's glasses.

Polarized Lenses are made using substances that have the ability to filter out plane-polarized rays to reduce glare from a horizontal or nearly horizontal reflective surface (eg, water, snow, wet asphalt) or stray light from the sky. These lenses can be made from glass, but are generally made from plastic, such as a Polaroid film coating. Polaroid film blocks 40-60% of light, so these glasses are also sunglasses.

Artificial lighting does not affect these lenses unless it contains the short ultraviolet waves that the sun emits. Lenses darken much less from visible light, so they are inconvenient for driving - car window glass does not transmit ultraviolet radiation. Photochromic lenses, otherwise called “chameleons,” darken from ultraviolet radiation. In a room where there is no ultraviolet light, they gradually become lighter. Photochromic lenses are made from glass, polycarbonate and other plastics.

Photochromic lenses usually darken and lighten in less than a minute, but the complete transition from one state to another occurs in 5 to 15 minutes.

The same lenses can simultaneously use coloring, polarization, gradation, photochromic effect and mirror coating in various combinations. Gradation or gradient darkening is when the lens is darker at the top and lighter at the bottom. Prescription glasses also come in dark enough or with a chameleon effect to be used as sunglasses. Instead, you can wear so-called attachment lenses- dark on top of optical or vice versa.

Lens color

Colored lenses are used to protect the eyes from too bright light. The color of the lenses depends on the model, style and purpose of use, most often used gray, green, brown And yellow colors.

Black and smoky lenses absorb; .

• Gray or smoky and grey-green Lenses absorb all colored rays almost equally, retain natural colors and are considered neutral.
• Greens Lenses were previously used everywhere, but it turned out that, while transmitting the brightest rays of the spectrum, they least reach the target. Now green lenses are used in special glasses for patients with glaucoma.
• Brown Lenses distort colors a little, but increase contrast.
• Blue And blue blue lenses block yellow and orange rays the most (the brightest); Lenses are used in medium to bright light as they increase contrast without distorting colors.
• Orange Lenses increase contrast and the sense of depth, but distort colors.
• Yellow also increase contrasts, but almost do not darken; Therefore, such lenses are used by those who need clearer vision in cloudy and foggy weather.
• Amber lenses are recommended in artificial light after dark.
• Pink make the surrounding world more colorful and sharpen the sharpness of contrasts (the famous phrase “rose-colored glasses”)
• Purple lenses are most often used simply for beauty.
• When working with a computer, you can use slightly darkened lenses to increase contrast.
• Transparent Lenses are used to protect the eyes from wind, dust and chemicals. Some glasses come with interchangeable lenses so they can be used in dim morning and evening light as well as bright midday.

In My OPTICS you can test your sunglasses for ultraviolet ray transmission for FREE.

The degree of sunlight transmission and the level of protection from ultraviolet rays are two key indicators that determine the quality and scope of a particular model of sunglasses. So, let's look at how to choose sunglasses by type of protection.

Sunglasses protection level

There are four levels of sunglass protection in total. Level “0” means that such glasses can only be worn in cloudy or cloudy weather, since they transmit from 80% to 100% of the sun’s rays. "1" is suitable for low sun, such as a summer evening. The degree of transmission of rays by lenses with such markings is 43 – 80%. Glasses marked “2” are suitable for strong sun and can be chosen if you decide to spend the summer in the city. They block most of the sunlight, transmitting from 18% to 43% of the rays to the eye. “3” is suitable for relaxing by the sea, where the sun is already very intense. The transmission percentage in them is only 8–18%. The most secure glasses have level “4”. In such lenses, your eyes will be comfortable even in the sun, since they transmit from 3% to 8% of the sun's rays.

Information about what kind of protection sunglasses should have should be looked at on the label, which also contains information about the manufacturer. Any high-quality model should have such labels. In addition, it is worth paying attention to the fact that the higher the protection, the darker the lens. Thus, glasses with protection level “4” cannot even be used when driving a car, they are so dark.

Sunglasses with UV protection

How to determine the protection level of women's sunglasses, in addition to information about light transmission? For this purpose, there is another parameter on the label - data on how many ultraviolet rays (UVA and UVB spectrum) this or that model transmits. There are three types of glasses depending on this parameter:

1. Cosmetic– such glasses practically do not block harmful radiation (transmission rate is 80–100%), which means they can be worn when the sun is not active.
2. General– glasses with this marking are perfect for use in the city, since their glasses reflect up to 70% of the radiation of both harmful spectra.
3. Finally, for a holiday by the sea or in the mountains you need to select glasses with the marking High UV protection, since they reliably block all harmful radiation, which multiplies many times when reflected from water.