I recently ordered contact lenses through 1-800-CONTACTS.com and they shipped me UV blocking lenses for my left eye and regular lenses for my right eye. This was by mistake, and when I called them they handled it well by offering to express me UV blocking replacements for my right eye.
Well, I just wanted to know what, if any, the effects would be of having the UV blocked from one eye and not the other. I know the difference wouldn’t be perceptable, but might it cause a strain of some sort on my vision? Any optometrists or qualified WAG’ers out there?
AFAIK, your eyeball does not perceive or process UV light at all. The damage that UV does is a slow, cumulative process-- for example, it takes many years to develop cataracts-- so I doubt you’d be at all affected by the lack of UV protection on one eye for a few days.
IIRC, the reason we don’t see ultraviolet is that it’s blocked by the lens.
I read somewhere long ago that in WW2, spies (in Norway, maybe?) were given UV lamps, and people who had had cataracts removed were used to spot their messages flashed out to submarines off the coast. I can’t find any reference on the Web, and might just be dreaming this. In any case, it doesn’t sound all that practical, so maybe was just tried as an experiment.
Bob the Random Expert
“If we don’t have the answer, we’ll make one up.”