Are Nonprescription Sunglasses in Ethiopian Market Protective for Ultraviolet Radiation?

Nonprescription sunglasses are available in bulk from authorized and unauthorized vendors. Sunglasses should follow the minimum requirements to sufficiently protect the eyes. In this study, we found that a significant proportion of nonprescription sunglasses available at authorized and unauthorized sources were not protective of ultraviolet radiation.

Protection from harmful ultraviolet radiation with sunglasses minimizes or avoids ocular complications. In developing countries like Ethiopia, sunglasses are imported without regulation. Sunglasses are distributed to the market without regulatory tests for potential causes of ocular complications. The purpose of this study was to determine commercially available nonprescription sunglasses' ultraviolet radiation protection level.

A total of 74 pairs of nonprescription sunglasses were collected from different parts of the country and tested for ultraviolet radiation protection using ultraviolet detector (anti-radiation UV sun detector, China) instrument. Brand, lens color and average of three readings of ultraviolet radiation protection were recorded. The International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection standard followed. Data were entered and analyzed by using SPSS version 20. Descriptive and analytical statistics were performed.

Of the total 74 different pairs of nonprescription sunglasses, 47.3% (35) were obtained from authorized sources and 86.5% (p=0.23) were brand tagged. Only 73.0% (p=0.81) of nonprescription sunglasses were in accordance with the standards and protective to ultraviolet radiation, while the remaining 27.0% (p=0.59) were failed to block the harmful ultraviolet radiation. Upon one sample t-test, the mean ultraviolet radiation protection level of commercially available sunglasses was 392.77 (t-value= -7681.54, p<0.001).

Significant proportions of nonprescription sunglasses available from vendors were not protective of ultraviolet radiation and performed below the expected international standards. Reassurance is mandatory before dispensed to users irrespective of source.