Most of us don’t go a day without wearing sunglasses, but do you even know if they perform the task they were designed for? Sunglasses are the most effective defense against UV (ultraviolet) light and yet, many people aren’t even sure if their favorite sunglasses have adequate UV protection against the sun’s rays. Unprotected extended exposure to UV rays can produce incredibly severe consequences for your eyes, so testing the stated UV protection of your sunglasses is, at no time, a bad idea.
This review features products from partners who compensate us. Therefore, this may influence which products we write about but not our evaluations of them. We take great pride in providing authentic reviews while remaining objective. Our thoughts and opinions are our own.
Our Take
Straight to the Point: We’ll save you the suspense! There are only two ways to test the UV protection of sunglasses. The first is to visit your local optician to have them test the lenses for you (they may or may not be so helpful). The second is to test them yourself with a UV light flashlight at home!
How Opticians Measure UV Protection
Measuring UV Protection: Opticians have many great tools at their disposal and should easily be able to check your sunglasses’ UV protection for you. They use a spectrometer or lensometer, and a UV protection test can be performed in as little as a few seconds. Better yet, most opticians will gladly do this for free! If not, you may want to shop around for a new optician while you’re at it!
1.) Purchase or Use Your UV Light: With a UV flashlight (like this one found here on Amazon), you can shine the light beam at paper money or a credit card to reveal the built-in security elements. These security elements will illuminate and appear to glow or reveal themselves when exposed to true UV light.
2.) Shine the UV Light on Your Lenses: After you have confirmed the security elements have reacted to the UV light, take your flashlight and direct the beam through the lens of your sunglasses.
3.) Determine Your Results:
If the security elements are no longer visible, your sunglasses have 100% UV protection.
If the security elements are still visible your sunglasses don’t feature adequate UV protection. This would be rare, even for cheaper examples, but it can still happen. Do not continue to wear your sunglasses if they failed the UV light test. This could result in serious eye damage as explained below.
Things to Note: You also may detect light making it through your lenses when using the UV flashlight, which is entirely normal. Apart from emitting UV light, which your eyes can’t see, the flashlight will also emit visible light.
Some of this light will make it through your lenses to illuminate the paper money or credit card you are using for the test. Just be sure to recognize the differences between the straight UV light compared to when the UV light is blocked, and the visible light hits the test subject.
Remember, if the visible light couldn’t penetrate your lens, you wouldn’t be able to see anything at all!
The pupillary distance measuring tool on their website works great but requires you to create an account. This is done so one of Warby Parker’s eyewear experts can review your picture and provide an accurate measurement.
Believe it or not, wearing sunglasses without UV protection is worse than wearing no sunglasses at all. When you wear sunglasses, the dark tint will naturally cause your eyes to dilate, which lets in more visible light. If your sunglasses feature little to no UV protection, your eyes will dilate and allow more UV light to enter.
In fact, regular clear lens glasses with 100% UV protection would protect you more than sunglasses without UV protection in this instance. We recommend you never wear sunglasses without complete UV protection, also known as 400 UV protection.
UV Light Explained
UV light is produced from the sun’s rays and enters our atmosphere in three different variations. Each has its risks and can affect your eyes or body differently. Risks include mild sunburn, cancer, and even blindness in extreme cases.
UVA: UVA rays represent the most common form of UV light, making up 95% of all UV rays to reach our eyes. They are arguably the most dangerous form of UV light and can deeply penetrate your unprotected skin or eyes to create significant and considerable damage to your vision. Overexposure can lead to skin cancer and photo-aging (wrinkles), as well as cataracts, macular degeneration, and photokeratitis (snow blindness).
UVB: UVB rays are the second most common to reach our eye, making up 5% of all sunlight. Most of us are familiar with this type of UV rays as they are the culprits behind surface sunburns. The skin around your eye is incredibly delicate, and sunglasses lacking UV protection can result in sunburn and sunspots, even with sunglasses on.
UVC: Despite what the marketing departments of the world’s most popular sunglasses will compel you to believe, UVC rays don’t make it to our eyes. UVC rays are entirely burned off as they enter our atmosphere and present little to no risk to you. A real-life example of UVC rays would be the arc created by a welding torch. This can most definitely damage your eyes which is why all welders wear extremely darkly tinted welding helmets and goggles.
Blue-Light: Blue-light rays are found towards the end of the visible spectrum, right before non-visible UV rays. Scientists are still studying the long-term effects of blue-light, but there is enough evidence to say it causes eye strain and fatigue, at the very least.
The most common form of blue-light associated with eye health comes from your phone and computer screens, but blue- light can also be found naturally. And like most things in life, blue light is okay in moderation. In fact, most scientists agree that exposure to some blue light can increase awareness and cognition, as well as elevate your mood.
How Lens Material Effects UV Protection
Some lens materials like polycarbonate and Trivex have UV protection built into them which requires no added coatings to provide full UV protection. Other materials, like CR-39 plastic and optical glass, don’t inherently include UV protection built within. They simply achieve it through protective coatings applied to the outer surface of the lens.
Prolonged exposure to UV rays can cause numerous health concerns for your eyes. If left unprotected, UV rays will start to cause cataracts, growths, and even cancer. In situations where the sun’s glare is intensely bright, like being on the open water or out in the stark white snow, you can experience photokeratitis or “snow blindness. A quality pair of sunglasses with 100% UV protection will eradicate these concerns.
What is the best UV protection rating for sunglasses and eyewear?
The best UV rating in the eyewear industry is known as UV400 protection. This simply means that the lenses will block all light ray wavelengths up to 400 nanometers, completely blocking all UVA and UVB light. Anything less will allow some amount of UV light through, affecting your vision health over time.
What are the differences between polarized lenses and UV Protection?
If you’re starting your research into a new pair of sunglasses, all this terminology can get quite confusing. Polarized lenses and UV protection are frequently confused, and many people wonder about the differences between the two.
Polarized Lenses: Polarized lenses work by blocking sunlight that concentrates (polarizes) on a flat surface like water, snow, and roads and reflects into your eyes. Horizontal elements in the lenses block this intense glare to increase your color and clarity.
UV Protection: UV protection is typically built into the lens or applied to the surface as a coating to protect your eyes from damage caused by UVA and UVB light.
Can sunglasses have both UV protection and polarized Lenses?
Neither polarized lenses nor UV protection are mutually exclusive from one another. We mean that sunglasses can, and often do, include both of these features. In fact, we typically recommend investing the extra money to buy polarized lenses for their fantastic clarity and glare-stopping properties.
Should I wear sunglasses on cloudy days?
UV light is always prevalent, even when the clouds block the sun. Many people think they can put their shades away on cloudy days, but that should rarely be the case. If you have difficulty seeing while wearing sunglasses on cloudy days, we recommend procuring a pair of sunglasses with lightly tinted lenses. This way, you can ensure your eyes obtain UV protection, and you will be able to see better when compared to your darker lenses.
Does the darkness of the lens tint help UV protection?
Lens tint does nothing to affect UV protection. It only controls how much light goes through the lens to your eyes. If your lens doesn’t include UV protection, it won’t matter how dark the tint is. UV light will still get to your eyes, where it can cause significant damage over time. In fact, regular clear lens glasses can have 100% UV protection without any tint at all.
The manufacturer of my sunglasses said they had 100% UV protection. Should I test them anyways?
This is entirely up to you, but we would be hesitant to wear sunglasses that weren’t verified to have UV400 protection. The damage caused by UVA and UVB light to your eyes is very real, and you were only given one set for life!
The Bottom Line
It’s easy to overlook the importance of proper UV protection when shopping for sunglasses, especially with all those great styles and vibrant colors to distract you. Don’t commit the fundamental mistake of overlooking this indispensable feature the next time you purchase a pair. Doing so could lead to unnecessary eye damage down the road.
If you are on the hunt for a new pair of sunglasses, be sure to check out our curated collection ( coming soon) as well as our featured sunglasses articles highlighted below!
Tony worked for the better part of a decade in the optical industry for one of the largest independent eyewear companies in the United States. He was intimately involved with the digital, print, and product design working in concert with the development of many of the frame designs. He continues his love of eyewear through his writing and design work found right here on eyeweargenius.com!
7 replies to “How to Test if Your Sunglasses Have UV Protection – 2 Simple Steps”
Karen Soghomonyan
I like the article. Its was hekpfull for me. Tough there is one doubt left. How could we see if the uv protection is a uv400 protection. Is there any way to check it by our own? Maybe with the light sensor of the phone and a uv torch?
Glad you liked it! Basically anything close to 100% UV blockage can be assumed to be UV400. If you see a more considerable amount of reaction from the UV element through the lens than it would fall somewhere below UV400. It would be rare for any manufacturer to use anything less than UV400 this day in age it can still happen. Experiencing headaches or itchy / burning eyes on bright days would also be a tell-tale sign.
Most eyeglass lenses have 100% UV protection “built” into them through their manufacturing process. It would be rare for true prescription lenses to not have this feature inherently built-in. I would have your eye doctor run a test if you were unsure or wanted to verify your own findings through a professional.
Thank you for your great article! A question for you. Do you have any experience with the brand William Painter? If so, what do you think of them? Thanking you in advance for your insightful reply!
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Pupillary distance (PD) is a necessary measurement when ordering glasses online. Many opticians neglect to give this simple measurement to their patients, but it’s quite easy to determine on your own at home. We have put together at least 5 easy ways to measure your PD at home with simple tools, including your smartphone. This [...]
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How to Test if Your Sunglasses Have UV Protection – 2 Simple Steps
Most of us don’t go a day without wearing sunglasses, but do you even know if they perform the task they were designed for? Sunglasses are the most effective defense against UV (ultraviolet) light and yet, many people aren’t even sure if their favorite sunglasses have adequate UV protection against the sun’s rays. Unprotected extended exposure to UV rays can produce incredibly severe consequences for your eyes, so testing the stated UV protection of your sunglasses is, at no time, a bad idea.
This review features products from partners who compensate us. Therefore, this may influence which products we write about but not our evaluations of them. We take great pride in providing authentic reviews while remaining objective. Our thoughts and opinions are our own.
Our Take
Straight to the Point: We’ll save you the suspense! There are only two ways to test the UV protection of sunglasses. The first is to visit your local optician to have them test the lenses for you (they may or may not be so helpful). The second is to test them yourself with a UV light flashlight at home!
How Opticians Measure UV Protection
Measuring UV Protection: Opticians have many great tools at their disposal and should easily be able to check your sunglasses’ UV protection for you. They use a spectrometer or lensometer, and a UV protection test can be performed in as little as a few seconds. Better yet, most opticians will gladly do this for free! If not, you may want to shop around for a new optician while you’re at it!
LEARN > See why we love Warby Parker Sunglasses >
Testing Your Sunglasses’ UV Protection at Home
1.) Purchase or Use Your UV Light: With a UV flashlight (like this one found here on Amazon), you can shine the light beam at paper money or a credit card to reveal the built-in security elements. These security elements will illuminate and appear to glow or reveal themselves when exposed to true UV light.
LEARN > Understand the difference between Polarized vs mirrored lenses.
2.) Shine the UV Light on Your Lenses: After you have confirmed the security elements have reacted to the UV light, take your flashlight and direct the beam through the lens of your sunglasses.
3.) Determine Your Results:
If the security elements are no longer visible, your sunglasses have 100% UV protection.
If the security elements are still visible your sunglasses don’t feature adequate UV protection. This would be rare, even for cheaper examples, but it can still happen. Do not continue to wear your sunglasses if they failed the UV light test. This could result in serious eye damage as explained below.
LEARN > How to renew or receive your eyewear prescription online.
Things to Note: You also may detect light making it through your lenses when using the UV flashlight, which is entirely normal. Apart from emitting UV light, which your eyes can’t see, the flashlight will also emit visible light.
Some of this light will make it through your lenses to illuminate the paper money or credit card you are using for the test. Just be sure to recognize the differences between the straight UV light compared to when the UV light is blocked, and the visible light hits the test subject.
Remember, if the visible light couldn’t penetrate your lens, you wouldn’t be able to see anything at all!
The pupillary distance measuring tool on their website works great but requires you to create an account. This is done so one of Warby Parker’s eyewear experts can review your picture and provide an accurate measurement.
MORE > Need your PD measurement quickly? Check out our guide to measuring your own pupillary distance.
Wearing Sunglasses Without UV Protection
Believe it or not, wearing sunglasses without UV protection is worse than wearing no sunglasses at all. When you wear sunglasses, the dark tint will naturally cause your eyes to dilate, which lets in more visible light. If your sunglasses feature little to no UV protection, your eyes will dilate and allow more UV light to enter.
In fact, regular clear lens glasses with 100% UV protection would protect you more than sunglasses without UV protection in this instance. We recommend you never wear sunglasses without complete UV protection, also known as 400 UV protection.
UV Light Explained
UV light is produced from the sun’s rays and enters our atmosphere in three different variations. Each has its risks and can affect your eyes or body differently. Risks include mild sunburn, cancer, and even blindness in extreme cases.
UVA: UVA rays represent the most common form of UV light, making up 95% of all UV rays to reach our eyes. They are arguably the most dangerous form of UV light and can deeply penetrate your unprotected skin or eyes to create significant and considerable damage to your vision. Overexposure can lead to skin cancer and photo-aging (wrinkles), as well as cataracts, macular degeneration, and photokeratitis (snow blindness).
UVB: UVB rays are the second most common to reach our eye, making up 5% of all sunlight. Most of us are familiar with this type of UV rays as they are the culprits behind surface sunburns. The skin around your eye is incredibly delicate, and sunglasses lacking UV protection can result in sunburn and sunspots, even with sunglasses on.
UVC: Despite what the marketing departments of the world’s most popular sunglasses will compel you to believe, UVC rays don’t make it to our eyes. UVC rays are entirely burned off as they enter our atmosphere and present little to no risk to you. A real-life example of UVC rays would be the arc created by a welding torch. This can most definitely damage your eyes which is why all welders wear extremely darkly tinted welding helmets and goggles.
Blue-Light: Blue-light rays are found towards the end of the visible spectrum, right before non-visible UV rays. Scientists are still studying the long-term effects of blue-light, but there is enough evidence to say it causes eye strain and fatigue, at the very least.
The most common form of blue-light associated with eye health comes from your phone and computer screens, but blue- light can also be found naturally. And like most things in life, blue light is okay in moderation. In fact, most scientists agree that exposure to some blue light can increase awareness and cognition, as well as elevate your mood.
How Lens Material Effects UV Protection
Some lens materials like polycarbonate and Trivex have UV protection built into them which requires no added coatings to provide full UV protection. Other materials, like CR-39 plastic and optical glass, don’t inherently include UV protection built within. They simply achieve it through protective coatings applied to the outer surface of the lens.
LEARN > The differences between CR-39, Polycarbonate, High Index Lenses and more!
Why is UV protection for your eyes important?
Prolonged exposure to UV rays can cause numerous health concerns for your eyes. If left unprotected, UV rays will start to cause cataracts, growths, and even cancer. In situations where the sun’s glare is intensely bright, like being on the open water or out in the stark white snow, you can experience photokeratitis or “snow blindness. A quality pair of sunglasses with 100% UV protection will eradicate these concerns.
What is the best UV protection rating for sunglasses and eyewear?
The best UV rating in the eyewear industry is known as UV400 protection. This simply means that the lenses will block all light ray wavelengths up to 400 nanometers, completely blocking all UVA and UVB light. Anything less will allow some amount of UV light through, affecting your vision health over time.
What are the differences between polarized lenses and UV Protection?
If you’re starting your research into a new pair of sunglasses, all this terminology can get quite confusing. Polarized lenses and UV protection are frequently confused, and many people wonder about the differences between the two.
Polarized Lenses: Polarized lenses work by blocking sunlight that concentrates (polarizes) on a flat surface like water, snow, and roads and reflects into your eyes. Horizontal elements in the lenses block this intense glare to increase your color and clarity.
UV Protection: UV protection is typically built into the lens or applied to the surface as a coating to protect your eyes from damage caused by UVA and UVB light.
Can sunglasses have both UV protection and polarized Lenses?
Neither polarized lenses nor UV protection are mutually exclusive from one another. We mean that sunglasses can, and often do, include both of these features. In fact, we typically recommend investing the extra money to buy polarized lenses for their fantastic clarity and glare-stopping properties.
Should I wear sunglasses on cloudy days?
UV light is always prevalent, even when the clouds block the sun. Many people think they can put their shades away on cloudy days, but that should rarely be the case. If you have difficulty seeing while wearing sunglasses on cloudy days, we recommend procuring a pair of sunglasses with lightly tinted lenses. This way, you can ensure your eyes obtain UV protection, and you will be able to see better when compared to your darker lenses.
Does the darkness of the lens tint help UV protection?
Lens tint does nothing to affect UV protection. It only controls how much light goes through the lens to your eyes. If your lens doesn’t include UV protection, it won’t matter how dark the tint is. UV light will still get to your eyes, where it can cause significant damage over time. In fact, regular clear lens glasses can have 100% UV protection without any tint at all.
The manufacturer of my sunglasses said they had 100% UV protection. Should I test them anyways?
This is entirely up to you, but we would be hesitant to wear sunglasses that weren’t verified to have UV400 protection. The damage caused by UVA and UVB light to your eyes is very real, and you were only given one set for life!
The Bottom Line
It’s easy to overlook the importance of proper UV protection when shopping for sunglasses, especially with all those great styles and vibrant colors to distract you. Don’t commit the fundamental mistake of overlooking this indispensable feature the next time you purchase a pair. Doing so could lead to unnecessary eye damage down the road.
If you are on the hunt for a new pair of sunglasses, be sure to check out our curated collection ( coming soon) as well as our featured sunglasses articles highlighted below!
Tony worked for the better part of a decade in the optical industry for one of the largest independent eyewear companies in the United States. He was intimately involved with the digital, print, and product design working in concert with the development of many of the frame designs. He continues his love of eyewear through his writing and design work found right here on eyeweargenius.com!
7 replies to “How to Test if Your Sunglasses Have UV Protection – 2 Simple Steps”
Karen Soghomonyan
I like the article. Its was hekpfull for me. Tough there is one doubt left. How could we see if the uv protection is a uv400 protection. Is there any way to check it by our own? Maybe with the light sensor of the phone and a uv torch?
Tony Parrish
Glad you liked it! Basically anything close to 100% UV blockage can be assumed to be UV400. If you see a more considerable amount of reaction from the UV element through the lens than it would fall somewhere below UV400. It would be rare for any manufacturer to use anything less than UV400 this day in age it can still happen. Experiencing headaches or itchy / burning eyes on bright days would also be a tell-tale sign.
Inquiring mind
Is it possible to have the UV protection in the glasses re-coated? Can do it yourself?
Tony Parrish
Most eyeglass lenses have 100% UV protection “built” into them through their manufacturing process. It would be rare for true prescription lenses to not have this feature inherently built-in. I would have your eye doctor run a test if you were unsure or wanted to verify your own findings through a professional.
lyndon parrilla
Great Article! Very thorough and informative. Thank you!
Tony Parrish
Thank you! We are glad you liked it!
Ted Hardin
Thank you for your great article! A question for you. Do you have any experience with the brand William Painter? If so, what do you think of them? Thanking you in advance for your insightful reply!
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