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Sunglasses are used to help prevent strong light from reaching a person's eyes and preventing them from being damaged due to too much ultra violet rays coming from the sun. Too much ultra violet light can lead to cataracts, a very severe eye disorder. In the 1940’s, they were just used whenever people went to the beach, but sunglasses started becoming more popular when movie stars started wearing them whenever they didn’t want people to recognize them.
The history of sunglasses goes as far back a 12th century China, and even the Roman Emperor Nero watched the gladiators fight while using Smokey quartz over his eyes. During the 18th century a man named James Ayscough used blue and green tinted glass to correct impairments in vision, but not because of the sun’s rays. It was not until 1929 that sunglasses were mass produced to Americans by a man named Sam Foster, and began selling his line of sunglasses at Woolworth Stores on the Boardwalk in Atlantic City. Then in the year 1936, a man named Edwin H. Land experimented with sunglass lenses and his Polaroid filter, and invented the first polarized sunglasses.
Expensive sunglasses were soon being sold under wrongful intentions in that they were said to have the ultimate protection from the suns ultra violet rays, when in all actuality they were no better than an old cheap pair. Medical experts in Europe were so concerned over this issue that they began using a special CE mark on every pair of sunglasses that were to be manufactured. This CE mark would now tell consumers how much sunlight and ultra violet light the sunglasses would protect them from.
Researchers in sunlight made another discovery called high energy visible light which is more intense that regular sunlight, as it will seem to be brighter when a person walks out doors, and then manufactures started producing sunglasses that would protect consumers from this type of light. After that, sunglasses were put through the ANSI Z87.1 test, which was a basic and higher impact test where a steel ball was dropped or shot at the lens of some test sunglasses and no part of the lens was suppose to touch a persons eye.
The Australian Standard for sunglasses are rated by the amount of sunlight that reached the eyes when wearing them. They range from “0 to 4”, and 4 having the most UV protection. The United States ANSI standards should have lens that transmit no more than one percent of UV rays for providing some protection from the suns rays, and no more than .5 times of visual light transmittance for the high rated UV protected sunglasses. The European standards rate their UV sunglasses from “0” for insufficient protection, “1” for sufficient, “2” for good, and “3” for full UV protection.
Surfing sunglasses and water goggles have now been developed for surfers to use in turbulent water, which are made shatter proof and use a strap to keep the glasses on the surfers head, and if they do come off they are made to float so that they can be found easily.
Now days, sunglasses are manufactured in all sorts of styles, shapes, and different colored lenses, and can come with thin or thick frames, but all the sunglasses that you purchase will have some sort of UV protection rating. It is advisable for everyone to start wearing sunglasses when they go out side.
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