Sunglass Test

Sunglass Test
Tuesday July 3, 2001

Functional, fashionable, or Elton John wannabe's. Americans buy more than 100 million pairs of sunglasses each year and we pay up to $500 looking for that cool pair of shades.

But higher prices don’t always mean better UV protection. Beverly Hills optometrist Dr. Steven Richlin says, “It’s very important to block out ultraviolet light.”

Dr. Richlin says look for lens that cut out at least 98 percent of ultraviolet light or you may see problems with your eyes in the future. “Cataracts and exposure to ultraviolet light, retina problems from exposure to ultraviolet light.”

So we decided to shed a little light on several drugstore and designer frames with the help of Dr. Richlin's digital light meter.

First up a fancy $200 dollar pair. It shows that this blocks out 99 percent of the ultraviolet radiation coming into the lens

Next up a cheap pair, $10.Yhey are only blocking out 77 percent of the light which actually that makes them harmful glasses to wear.

Some of the results with designer frames were eye opening. Hundreds of dollars for high style, but low protection

Two factors to check for when buying your next pair of shades:

- Make sure your sunglasses block at least 98% of UV light.
- Look for a lens that is free of distortion

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