UV Protection in Sport Sunglasses — It’s Non-Negotiable
If your sunglasses don’t block UVA and UVB radiation, you can kiss your eye health goodbye. Seriously, you might as well just wear a hat, skip sunglasses, and take your chances. UV radiation is no joke — both types can damage your eyes. UVA radiation (which is always present) can damage your eyesight, but UVB radiation inflicts the most harm. UVB is the type that affects your DNA, making it responsible for most UV-related cancers, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
Surprise Sources of UV Radiation
It’s not just direct sunlight that hits your eyes with UV rays. Glare from water, glass, and snow bounces sunlight — and its harmful rays — straight back at you. If you’ve ever squinted or winced in bright conditions, that’s reflected UV essentially sunburning your eyes.
Dark and cloudy days aren’t UV-free either. Both types of UV radiation penetrate through clouds, which means they can still reach your eyes even when it's overcast. You may not want to wear dark glasses on cloudy days, but you need to wear some type of eyewear with UV protection.
To further enhance the UV protection, ImpactX® scratch-resistant coatings ensure that damaging rays can’t reach your corneas like they would through scratches in lesser sunglasses.
Rudy Project’s Commitment to UV Protection & Performance
Rudy Project believes sunglasses for athletes must block 100% of all UVA and UVB radiation. As a result, all of their eyewear, from clear, everyday eyeglasses to high-performance wrap shields and goggles, features a baked-in UV barrier. As the harmful UV rays are being reflected, ImpactX technology utilizes the UV to activate its photochromic properties to adapt to the lighting conditions. To further shield athletes’ eyes from damaging light, most of Rudy Project’s lenses provide full coverage of the eyes, using precise design specs to block glare and light from sneaking through the sides or bottom of the lens.
Like wearing a helmet on your bike rides or ski runs, wearing sunglasses should be considered non-negotiable when you’re training or competing outside or under bright lights. Whether you’re cycling, running, hiking, climbing, Nordic skiing — or any endurance sport that requires you to spend hours outside in the sun — make sure you’re preserving your vision with eyewear that provides 100% UV protection for your eyes.
Click here to see Rudy Project’s complete line-up of sports performance sunglasses that block UV radiation.
