UV blocking sunglasses

I bought a nice pair of shades but when I tested them at home they didn't block UV light even though they were rated 100% uv. So I tried all my glasses with my black light, and only 2 made the black light look like it was off. One cheap plastic yellow lenses (Anarchy supreme) and the other amber lenses(OP). My polarized glasses blocked about half the uv.

I am going to start carrying my uv keylight to test glasses when I try them. I probably will buy glasses I like even if they are not uv blocking.

Is this just a feature of yellow lenses? Maybe some others will share their experience with uv blocking glasses.

Also, I see on CSI they use amber plexiglass to filter for UV. Usually it is attached to the flashlight. Maybe it would be easier to just get glasses.

If you tested your glasses for UV and you want to share, please indicate maker or photo.

UV is on a wavelength we cannot see. You are *seeing* light in the visable light spectrum and the sunglasses may be blocking the UV and not the visable *purple* light as the frequency is different.

Yeah, we don't visibly register UV. Perhaps if you put the lense between the UV light and a UV reactive surface you might see the results you originally anticipated?

I was wrong. I tried a new test which consisted of passing the lenses in front of a radioactive marble which glows. The glasses that didn't appear to block the violet light in fact shielded the marble from the uv light. So I guess that some glasses block more of the violet spectrum than others.

The amber 'CSI' glasses just block the visible emmisions from NUV lights in an attempt to make it easier to spot things that only floresce very faintly.

Anyone have an inexpensive source for those amber glasses? I'd really like some, but I don't want to pay the price a forensic lab would be gouged for them.

You're probably way better off running your own UV blocking tests on any glasses that claim to block UV. IIRC there is no government standard for UV blocking eyeglasses in the States -- so some of those claims are probably just hype.

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Sub_Umbra said:
The amber 'CSI' glasses just block the visible emmisions from NUV lights in an attempt to make it easier to spot things that only floresce very faintly.

Anyone have an inexpensive source for those amber glasses? I'd really like some, but I don't want to pay the price a forensic lab would be gouged for them.

You're probably way better off running your own UV blocking tests on any glasses that claim to block UV. IIRC there is no government standard for UV blocking eyeglasses in the States -- so some of those claims are probably just hype.

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Try safety gear suppliers, amongst the welding goggles, and face protection sections...

Thanks much

As far as just common sunglasses, people are very particular about the kind they like. I end up buying dozens of pairs I think I like, most of them good. Then I started thinking about UV blocking in particular and was surprised that not all of my glasses blocked UV the same. Do I need to worry about the visible violet light, or just UV? Some glasses seem to block more.

Visible: 380-770nm
UVa:315-400nm
UVb:280-315nm
UVc:100-280nm
Plastic will block more UV than glass as a raw material. without being manufacured with a laminated filter or coloration. Tanning booths use UVa lamps.