How to View the Eclipse Safely

If you plan on watching the total solar eclipse on April 8 with your family, we are discussing how you and your kids can view it safely with Dr. Svitlana Zhukivska with UTMC Family Medicine.

We discuss dos and don’ts for eclipse glasses, and the repercussions for not having the right type of protection for yours and your kid's eyes, and helping your kids understand why using eclipse glasses are important. 

If you are interested in attending UToledo's Eclipse celebration, you can learn more at https://www.utoledo.edu/eclipse/

If you would like to schedule an appointment with Dr. Zhukivska, you can call  419.383.5555 

Transcript

Host: Tessa Lackey:

Welcome to Prescribed Listening from the University of Toledo Medical Center. I'm your host, Tessa Lackey. On this episode, we are discussing eclipse health and safety for yourself and your family with Dr. Svitlana Zhukivska from UTMC Family Medicine. If you and your kids are going to be off work and school that day and are planning to view the eclipse, we are discussing how to protect yours and your kids' eyes from potentially causing permanent damage, plus what you need to avoid doing that you might not realize while enjoying this once in a lifetime experience. So here's our conversation with Dr. Zhukivska.

Thank you so much for joining us today. Before we get into our conversation about the eclipse and any health tips that you have to offer, give us an idea of what you do for UTMC.

Guest: Dr. Svitlana Zhukivska:

Okay, thank you. Thank you for having me today. I am a family medicine physician at the Comprehensive Care Center, and I'm also a faculty at the University of Toledo Family Medicine Residency program.

Host: Tessa Lackey:

Awesome. So kids are going to be off school for the eclipse, and if anyone hasn't heard of it, there's this big eclipse that's happening on April 8th coming up. So while kids are off that day and they will be able to view the solar eclipse, what would you recommend to parents that they can keep their kids safe while watching the solar eclipse?

Guest: Dr. Svitlana Zhukivska:

Okay, great question. So watching the solar eclipse, especially total solar eclipse that we will experience in our area can be such a fascinating once in a lifetime event actually. But it is very important to take precautions to protect our eyes. So my main number one tip or advice to the parents of the children would be, so parents can make sure that their children are using special solar eclipse glasses when they're viewing the solar eclipse. A regular sunglasses, doesn't matter how dark they are, are not safe to view the eclipse. The eclipse glasses are like thousand times darker than the regular sunglasses.

The thing is that the surface of the sun is so bright that watching it without protective equipment can damage the eyes, can damage the retinal cells, which can result in the temporary or permanent blind spots depending on the duration of the viewing. So that's why it's so important for adults as well as for kids to protect their eyes and watch the solar eclipse with the special solar eclipse glasses.

Host: Tessa Lackey:

So with these glasses, I know when I've looked through them before, the pair that I have, even if you're just looking through them normally in a bedroom or whatever, you can't see through them. But if you are looking at the sun, no matter what totality it's at, you're really only going to be able to see the sun through them, right?

Guest: Dr. Svitlana Zhukivska:

That's right. Yeah, that's right. And then they will protect from the solar rays that can damage the retina and cause problems with the eyes.

Host: Tessa Lackey:

Okay. And then you can find these glasses just about anywhere, right? Is there anything specifically that parents need to look for and make sure that the glasses that they are looking up and buying and trying to make sure that their family is prepared for that certain qualities are there in those glasses or features?

Guest: Dr. Svitlana Zhukivska:

Yes, of course. Parents need to make sure that solar eclipse classes that their children will be using are from a reputable vendor and they meet the required ISO 12312-2 international safety standards. The glasses should have the ISO number and the logo and the manufacturer's name on them. Parents also should inspect the glasses to make sure the lenses are not scratched or wrinkled, and if the lenses are scratched or there is any other damage to them, do not use those glasses.

Host: Tessa Lackey:

Okay. And then is it safe to look at the eclipse through binoculars or smartphone cameras or even holding up those glasses to those materials?

Guest: Dr. Svitlana Zhukivska:

Unfortunately, no. It is not safe to look at the eclipse through binocular, smartphone camera or telescopes. The thing is that the lenses on those devices, they all magnify the rays that are coming from the sun, and those rays can damage ice even more than just reviewing the solar eclipse with unprotected eyes.

And also another tip is it is not safe to watch solar eclipse through those devices even if you have solar eclipse glasses on because the solar rays are magnified through the lenses of those devices, and they can damage the solar eclipse glasses and can injure the eyes as well.

So whoever wants to use their smartphone camera or telescope or binoculars, they need to use two things. First, solar eclipse glasses, and second, special certified solar filter that they put in front of the lenses of those devices. So by using those two things, it is safe to use smartphone camera or telescope or binoculars.

Host: Tessa Lackey:

I've seen too that if you have a camera or a smartphone camera or whatever you're using, if you are pointing it toward the sun, you can actually damage your phone or you could damage your expensive beautiful camera as well too. Would really be unfortunate for the couple minutes that we're going to have to be able to view this.

Guest: Dr. Svitlana Zhukivska:

That's right. And then I think the damage to the eyes can be even more cost.

Host: Tessa Lackey:

Yeah, that would be...

Guest: Dr. Svitlana Zhukivska:

[inaudible 00:05:12].

Host: Tessa Lackey:

... a downside for sure.

Guest: Dr. Svitlana Zhukivska:

Yeah, that's right.

Host: Tessa Lackey:

So it sounds like that there is a wrong way, but is there a right or a wrong way to wear these glasses?

Guest: Dr. Svitlana Zhukivska:

Okay. So the parents should make sure their kids wear their glasses. They supervise children when watching the solar eclipse. So the solar eclipse glasses needs to fit snugly, and then they need to cover the eyes completely so there is no light peek through. Children and adults also need to put the glasses on before they look at the sun and take them off only when they look away from the sun.

Host: Tessa Lackey:

Any tips for how parents can make sure their kids understand that they need to stay on? Because I would think that... I mean, a lot of these glasses are the 3D looking kind of glasses, the ones that I've seen at least. And some kids might just not be super comfortable with wearing them. Or if there's kids that have glasses already, they might not be very interested in wearing these paper glasses over their own glasses. So any tips for helping with that?

Guest: Dr. Svitlana Zhukivska:

First thing is to make sure that they supervise that children are wearing the glasses when they're viewing the solar eclipse. And next one, just have a discussion with the children, and then explain to them how important it is to wear the eclipse glasses when viewing the sun. And if they take eclipse glasses off at any time, they are at risk of causing damage to their vision.

And if children already are wearing regular eyeglasses, it is okay to place the eclipse glasses on top of the regular eyeglasses when watching the eclipse.

Host: Tessa Lackey:

It's not going to damage their glasses?

Guest: Dr. Svitlana Zhukivska:

No, it's not.

Host: Tessa Lackey:

Perfect. Okay. So you've mentioned this a couple times that if you look up at the sun during the eclipse and you don't have those glasses, you're going to hurt your eyes. So now that we have our glasses and know how to wear them, can you dive into a little bit on how viewing the sun without these can hurt your eyes?

Guest: Dr. Svitlana Zhukivska:

Yeah. So the solar rays that are coming from the sun can go to your retina and then cause damage to retinal cells. For some of the cells, it can be permanent damage, which can result in temporary or permanent blind spots. So that's why it is so important to protect the eyes. So that's why it's so important to wear the solar eclipse glasses on when watching the sun's surface.

Host: Tessa Lackey:

Okay. Do you have any other recommendations from here?

Guest: Dr. Svitlana Zhukivska:

Some of the experts recommend to watch the solar eclipse with eclipse glasses on for no longer than three minutes, and then take small break and then you can watch for another three minutes, and then you can do it intermittently for as long as you need to until the eclipse will be over. And then if you're viewing the eclipse outside, make sure that you're wearing sunscreen as well.

Host: Tessa Lackey:

Oh, I didn't even think about that. That's a good tip as well too. Yeah. If you're going to be outside for an extended amount of time, yeah.

And with those three minutes, is that during full totality or is that whether you're in your backyard watching the eclipse or you're at some kind of an event watching the eclipse as coming into full totality?

Guest: Dr. Svitlana Zhukivska:

Yeah. So those three minutes is when it's not the full totality. When you still can see the sun rays. During the full totality, actually when there is no sun visible, when it's completely covered by the moon and then there is no sun rays, it's safe to look at the eclipse without eyewear for short time, a few seconds, but even then still use caution.

Host: Tessa Lackey:

Yeah, because you still are looking at the sun ultimately.

Guest: Dr. Svitlana Zhukivska:

Yeah, that's right.

Host: Tessa Lackey:

Yeah. So everyone's going to be watching the eclipse in some capacity. For example, on UT main campus, we'll have an eclipse celebration ourselves in the Glass Bowl where the public, students, family, friends, and staff are invited to come and view the eclipse from the Glass Bowl. So is it safe to say that while viewing the eclipse as it comes to full totality, that you can look at it for a few seconds at a time and don't need to stare at the sun for a maximum of three minutes?

Guest: Dr. Svitlana Zhukivska:

Yes, exactly. Only during the full totality, when day suddenly becomes night and no visible light from the sun for a few minutes, it is briefly safe to look at the sun completely blocked by the moon. Still use the caution even during that time.

Host: Tessa Lackey:

Okay, awesome. Dr. Zhukivska any other tips for families for viewing this once in a lifetime eclipse?

Guest: Dr. Svitlana Zhukivska:

I would say this is such educational opportunity for the kids to learn about astronomy, about how our space is working. And I think, you know what, just go ahead and spend time together. Enjoy, but be safe.

Host: Tessa Lackey:

Yes, absolutely. I couldn't agree more. Yeah, and then on UT campus, it's going to be a whole family event. There's going to be food, and it's just going to be a whole thing. It'll be a lot of fun. So well, thank you so much Dr. Zhukivska for joining us and for helping us to get ready for this once in a lifetime opportunity and make sure our families are safe and ready for the eclipse.

Guest: Dr. Svitlana Zhukivska:

It was my pleasure. Thank you for inviting me.

Host: Tessa Lackey:

Thanks for listening. We hope that you found some things from this episode that are going to help you and your family to enjoy this once in a lifetime experience together in a safe way.

If you like this episode, don't forget to hit subscribe, that way you don't miss another episode of Prescribed Listening.

If you're interested in attending UToledo's eclipse celebration with yourself and your family on main campus, you can learn more about it at the link in our show notes or going to utoledo.edu/eclipse.

And if you're interested in scheduling an appointment with Dr. Zhukivska, you can call 419-383-5555...