title: Spectral transmittance of UV-blocking soft contact lenses: a comparative study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Three major parts of sunlight consist of visible, ultraviolet and infrared radiation. Exposure to ultraviolet radiation (UVR) can result in a spectrum of skin and ocular diseases. UV-blocking contact lenses help provide protection against harmful UV radiation. We studied the ultraviolet and visible light rays transmission in some soft UV-blocking contact lenses.
  
  
  METHODS
  Four available tinted soft lenses (Acuvue Moist, Zeiss CONTACT Day 30 Air spheric, Pretty Eyes and Sauflon 56 UV) have been evaluated for UV and visible transmission. One-way ANOVA testing was performed to establish is there a statistically significant difference between the UV regions and visible spectra means for the contact lenses (α=0.05).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Pretty Eyes, Zeiss CONTACT, Acuvue Moist and Sauflon 56 UV showed UV-B transmittance value of 0.65%, 10.69%, 1.22%, and 5.78%, respectively. Pretty Eyes and Acuvue Moist had UV-A transmittance values of 32% and 34%, Sauflon 56 UV and Zeiss CONTACT had transmittance values of 48% and 43%, respectively. All of the studied lenses transmitted at least 94.6% on the visible spectrum. The results of the one-way ANOVA statistical analysis show that a statistically significant difference exists within the group of contact lenses tested for the visible (p<0.001), UV-B (p<0.001) and UV-A (p<0.001) portions of the spectrum (α=0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Acuvue Moist has the best UV-blocking property and also visible transmission between other tested contact lenses in this study.
authors.affiliation: Department of Optometry, Faculty of Rehabilitation Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Electronic address: medicalopto@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Saeed
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rahmani
authors.affiliation: Department of Optometry, Faculty of Rehabilitation Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Electronic address: optometrist1390@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Mohadeseh
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mohammadi Nia
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Rehabilitation Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Alireza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Akbarzadeh Baghban
authors.affiliation: Department of Optometry, Faculty of Rehabilitation Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Electronic address: mrnazariop@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Mohammad Reza
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Nazari
authors.affiliation: Department of Optometry, Faculty of Rehabilitation Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Electronic address: mghbr31@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ghassemi-Broumand
mesh_terms: D065638:Absorption, Radiation; D003263:Contact Lenses, Hydrophilic; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D005131:Eye Injuries / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005135:Eye Protective Devices; D006801:Humans; D011832:Radiation Injuries / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011835:Radiation Protection / Q000295:instrumentation*; D012031:Refractometry / Q000379:methods*; D014466:Ultraviolet Rays
keywords: Contact lens; Spectral transmittance; UV-blocking; Visible light