Public should be made aware of UV dangers

Attempts to make the dangers of ultraviolet (UV) radiation to the eye and how to avoid them clearer to the public would be a significant step forward.

This was one of the findings agreed by a panel assembled by Optician last week for an Essilor-supported roundtable. The panel comprised optometrists and dispensing opticians with a variety of clinical and academic experience, along with a secondary education teacher and a consultant ophthalmologist.

The discussion focused on definitions of UV. Optometrist and British Standards committee member Ronald Rabbetts stated that while the definitions for UVC (200-280nm) and UVB (280-315nm) were well established, there was still an issue of the exact definition of UVA. Ophthalmic standards defined it as 315-380nm while the CIE definition gave the cut-off point with visible light as 400nm.