Awareness for eye protection agains UV radiation

Thanks to the many awareness campaigns and information from both skin specialists and women's magazines, we now apply sunscreen to ourselves and our offspring. But although a burned toddler's back guarantees a huge parental guilt, the same toddler is safely transported on the bike without sunglasses. Squeezing against the bright sun rays, but with a protected nose.

So although using sunscreen may be commonplace, childrens' eyes must also be protected just as well against the harmful influences of UV radiation. Eyes damaged by UV radiation are more likely to suffer from eye diseases such as cataracts, eye melanomas and corneal inflammations. So time to highlight the functional necessity of sunglasses for your child(ren)! Do you know if the following statements are true or false?

4 x true or false

True or false: children's eyes are particularly sensitive to UV radiation

True!
UV radiation is more harmful to children's eyes than to adults eyes. Their eye lens contains less pigment and their pupil is larger. Too much sunlight can even lead to permanent damage to children's eyes.

Babies in their first year of life have a transparent lens and this allows 90% of UVA and 50% of UVB rays to penetrate to the retina. The body's own protection develops over the years and only after the age of 25 are some of these rays absorbed by the retina. In addition, the blink function in babies and toddlers is not yet fully developed. This means that the reflex to close your eyes on the right time is hardly there.

When the children are still very small, they are usually not exposed to the direct sun and are protected by an umbrella or the roof of the stroller. But later, as soon as the little ones can walk themselves and discover the world, the right sunglasses should be a must-have. So the beautiful sunny days can be enjoyed in peace by child and parents.

True or false: a hat for a child protects enough against the sun

False!
A cute hat against the sun protects both the head and the eyes, is the idea. As far as the eyes are concerned, this is only partly true: harmful UV radiation still gets into the eyes due to glare and reflections. 

True or false: the darker the lenses, the more sunglasses protect against UV radiation

False!
How dark the glasses are, says nothing about the UV protection of the sunglasses. In fact, transparent lenses can offer 100% UV protection. Super dark lenses without UV protection are actually much more dangerous than lightly tinted lenses without UV protection. Due to the dark glasses, your pupil dilates, allowing even more UV radiation to enter your pupil. So pay close attention to the extent to which the glasses protect against UV and do not rely on the color of the glasses! On the lenses or the frame is usually stated which UV protection it offers. UV400 and UV100% means that sunglasses offer 100% UV protection. 

True or false: the higher the CE category, the better your eyes are protected against UV radiation

False!
This is not true, for the same reason as the previous point. The CE category indicates that the sunglasses comply with the rules of the European Union, the category behind it shows how much light is absorbed by the lenses. This therefore indicates the degree of glare and not the protection against UV radiation. This value can be found in the spring of the glasses (the temple). With category CE 1, between 20% and 57% of the light is absorbed, with CE 2 between 57% and 82%, with CE 3 between 82% and 92% and glasses with category 4 absorb up to 97% of the light. This last category offers maximum protection against dazzling, but is also extremely dangerous to wear while driving! Glasses in this category are worn in the mountains or at sea. If you drive it through a tunnel, you immediately see nothing at all.