Some Eclipse Viewing Glasses Given by Family Eye Care of Toccoa Being Recalled

For anyone planning to view the upcoming total solar eclipse, you may know by now that you must have the proper viewing glasses to avoid damaging your eyes.

However, what you may not know is there is a specific type of viewing glasses that you need to ensure your safety.

According to the American Astronomical Society’s website, the proper viewing glasses are ISO 12312-2 compliant. These glasses properly reduce visible sunlight to safe levels and also block solar UV and IR radiation.

It’s best to purchase your glasses from a reputable manufacturer to ensure safety. A complete list of the AAS’s recommended vendors, can be found at eclipse.aas.org.

One way to tell if your glasses are safe is to look through them and determine if you can see anything. If it’s a safe solar filter, you shouldn’t be able to see anything.

Also be sure that your filters aren’t torn, scratched or punctured. Otherwise, you risk going blind from looking directly at the sun for the duration of the eclipse.

Some viewing glasses sold on Amazon were recently recalled due to incompliance with the ISO standard. Here in Toccoa, Family Eye Care of Toccoa gave out some viewing glasses and were later notified by Amazon that they had been recalled.

According to their Facebook page, Amazon notified them that these glasses do have the correct labeling of ISO and CE certification, however, there are concerns that they could be counterfeit.

The clinic is advising anyone who has a pair of these recalled glasses not to use them.

You can find a picture of the recalled product on the Family Eye Care of Toccoa’s Facebook page.