‘This is a permanent loss of vision’
Ophthalmologist warns about dangers of viewing eclipse without protection
It’s never safe to look at the sun with unprotected eyes, and the damage it causes increases the longer the exposure lasts.
Niagara Health ophthalmologist Dr. Amber Sheikh said prolonged exposure to the intense light can lead to solar retinopathy, an often permanent condition for which there is no treatment.
Although people don’t typically stare at the sun, there will be incentive to do so during the total solar eclipse on April 8. And Sheikh is advising people to find alternative and safe ways to enjoy the once-in-a-lifetime spectacle.
Sheikh said she plans to set up monitors in her office to allow her patients to safely watch a live broadcast of the eclipse. However, the thousands of people expected to visit the region that day for the best view of the eclipse are not likely to be satisfied with watching it on TV.
She said there’s no safe limit for exposure.
“If you were to say to me, ‘Oh, Dr. Sheikh, you can look at the sun for 10 seconds, and you’ll be fine,’ I would say, ‘No way. There’s no way I would ever take that kind of risk. Why do that to yourself ?’ ” she said.
“It doesn’t make much sense to me to look at the sun without solar eclipse glasses.”
Niagara Region Public Health has issued a statement advising residents to not view the eclipse at all, unless they are using a proper method of blocking the sun’s dangerous rays.
Eclipse glasses need to be ISOcertified, and stamped with ISO 12312-2, verifying they block more than 99.99 per cent of the sun’s light, including ultraviolet and infrared radiation. The manufacturer’s name and address should also be stamped on them.
“If they’re not ISO certified, how
‘‘ There’s no way I would ever take that kind of risk. Why do that to yourself?
DR. AMBER SHEIKH NIAGARA HEALTH OPHTHALMOLOGIST
do you know they’re safe?”
Sheikh asked.
Although agencies including NASA say it is safe to look directly toward the sun during the roughly three minutes and 30 seconds when it is totally obscured by the moon, Sheikh advised against it.
“How can you really be sure to take off your glasses and look, and then know when to put them back on? Why even take that risk? I would personally just keep the glasses on,” she said.
She said people may not know their eyes are damaged until long after it’s too late, because there are no pain receptors in the retina. It can take 12 to 48 hours before symptoms appear. That may include blurred vision or a blind spot in one or both eyes, called scotomata.
Sheikh said it’s much worse than eye damage welders may experience if their eyes are not properly shielded.
“Welder’s flash, we see those patients and they come in with pain and discomfort because of the thermal injury to their cornea,” she said.
That condition typically improves over time, with intervention such as steroid eye drops, “but this is different.”
“It actually burns your retina. It gives you scotomata, which are permanent blind spots,” she said. “These blind spots are usually central or a little bit offcentre.”
Although the condition may improve in time, she said “there’s no treatment that an ophthalmologist or specialist can do to improve this.”
“This is a permanent loss of vision. Nothing can be done to improve it. Be safe and use the proper ISO-certified glasses or you’ll be not seeing properly for the rest of your life.”
Sheikh is particularly concerned about the safety of children during the eclipse.
“I have younger kids and I don’t trust just giving them the solar glasses and saying don’t take them off,” she said. “You don’t know if they’ll take them off and it’s just not worth it for me.”
She said she stayed indoors with her children during the partial eclipse in August 2017, and instead watched online video of the event.
“It is a remarkable thing,” Sheikh said. “It’s a pretty neat thing that this is happening, but you just want to be safe when you experience it.”
Public health said people should not be able to see anything through a solar filter except the sun itself, and advised people not to use eclipse glasses unless they are certain the product came from a reputable vendor.
Residents also should not use any viewer if it has scratched or wrinkled lenses, or if viewing the sun through them is uncomfortably bright, out of focus or surrounded by a bright haze.
Wearing multiple pairs of sunglasses, camera lens filters, smoked glass, photographic or X-ray film, or any do-it yourself filter such as a potato chip bag or DVD, will not provide adequate protection across the full electromagnetic spectrum to which eyes are sensitive.