July has been deemed “Ultraviolet Safety Month” by the American Cancer Society. It is being sponsored by the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) so the main focus is on eye protection. Your eyes are very sensitive organs and need to be protected all year round. Snow, sand, grass and water all reflect UV rays that can damage your eyes. Make sure that when you do wear protection that you know what you are buying. The darkness of the shade of your lenses dose not indicate the amount of UV protection as many people think. The chemicals that are added during the lens making process determine the amount of protection. It is important to have protection against both UVA and UVB rays. UVA rays are know to cause leathering, wrinkling and other skin aging. UVB rays are usually the cause of skin cancers, sun burns, cataracts and damage to your immune system. The ozone layer filters out a lot of the UVB rays, but enough can get through to cause damage. Skin damage from overexposure to the sun is irreversible and can take years to present itself and while some skin types resist burning, all are susceptible to UV-related damage. This information and more can be found here.