Radiation Safety Glasses

These safety eyewear options are suited to workplaces where employees may work with x-ray machines.

Only in the last decade or so has the damage of relatively low levels of ionizing radiation come to light.

X-ray radiation exposure is limited by prescribed thresholds in Australia, but because of its cumulative nature, technicians, doctors, and medical professionals who work around any type of imaging equipment over the course of a career are at high risk of receiving enough radiation to damage their eyesight.

Doctors as young as in their 30′s can potentially start experiencing x-ray-related vision problems if they do not wear the proper protective equipment during procedures such as fluoroscopy (which involves real-time viewing of x-ray images during pulmonary and other procedures).

Years of exposure to x-rays has been significantly correlated with cataracts risk in medical professionals, known as posterior subscapular cataracts. These are cataracts that form at the very back of the eye and result in seeing differences in contrast as well as vision loss as the condition worsens. Cataracts are capable of being removed surgically, but the surgery comes with risks which include possible permanent vision damage, which could end a career.

Radiation safety glasses, or lead glasses, are a sure way to greatly reduce the risk of cataracts caused by x-ray radiation exposure. The glasses offer protection equivalent to that of a 0.75mm Pb (lead) sheet, that attenuate x-ray radiation, greatly reducing the ionizing radiation that reaches your eyes.

Eye problems such as cataracts can take decades to develop, therefore it is important to protect all sensitive areas of the body to even small amounts of exposure. The eyes, being the most sensitive area of the body to radiation, need ongoing protection through the use of lead glasses.

If you have been working with x-rays for years you could be at risk.

Other countries have already recognized the dangers of x-ray radiation and have made lead glasses mandatory in all fluoroscopy procedures. They are also commonly used in any areas of the hospital, clinic, research facility or lab where there is a possibility of exposure to radiation.

Finding styles and types of leaded glasses that are comfortable and lightweight is essential to ensure that everyone wears the glasses as necessarily. Heavy and uncomfortable older styles of glasses are much less likely to be routinely used by people, especially if they cause painful pressure areas on the bridge of the nose or the temples. New styles of lead glasses are designed with this in mind. They are stylish in appearance, not the thick, heavy, clunky looking laboratory glasses of old, and they can also be ordered in prescription styles, perfect for those that need both protection and prescription glasses.