As the excitement builds for the upcoming total solar eclipse, warnings about counterfeit and fake eclipse glasses are also popping up.
Looking directly at the sun without proper protection can lead to serious problems, such as partial or complete loss of eyesight, the Canadian Space Agency warns.
That is why it’s important to get internationally certified glasses that can prevent any damage to the eyes when you look up, experts say.
A total solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the sun and the Earth, aligning perfectly and completely blocking the sunlight. But any eclipse will start and end as a partial eclipse when the sun is not hidden in totality.
1:44 Solar eclipse eye protection: What optometrists recommend for viewing
“The problem with the eclipse (is that) because of that partial obstruction of the UV lights, we can actually look at the sun thinking, it’s okay because we’re not getting that same glare, discomfort that we usually get from the sun, and that’s when the damage actually occurs,” said Samir Jabbour, an ophthalmologist and cornea specialist in Montreal.
“Damage can be done quite quickly just by looking at the sun for a few seconds and symptoms can start occurring within a couple weeks after the damage has occurred,” he said in an interview with Global News.
In Kingston, which is preparing for a total solar eclipse on April 8, Queen’s University alerted residents about knockoff eclipse glasses.
“We have found that COUNTERFEIT eclipse glasses are being sold online to people in Kingston – faked to look like glasses sold by Solar Eclipse International, Canada (SEIC),” the university said in a post Tuesday on X.
“These glasses do NOT stop enough sunlight to be safe. You can tell by looking at household lights – if you can see the lights easily, these should be DISCARDED.”
‼️‼️IMPORTANT NOTICE‼️‼️ We have found that COUNTERFEIT eclipse glasses are being sold online to people in Kingston – faked to look like glasses sold by Solar Eclipse International, Canada (SEIC). For further details, please visit this page: https://t.co/bZok8hZEqz (1/2)
— Queen’s University 2024 Eclipse (@queensu_eclipse) March 26, 2024
The American Astronomical Society also issued a warning last week about counterfeit and fake eclipse glasses “polluting the marketplace.”
Celestial Optical, a U.S.-based company, says thousands of counterfeit versions of their eclipse glasses have been sold on Amazon.ca.
“Towards the middle of February, we noticed the marketplace was being flooded with counterfeits of our authentic EclipseGuard glasses,” said Adam Levy, president of Celestial Optical, in a statement to Global News.
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“Thankfully, the problems on Amazon.ca have been solved, but for a three-week period, unscrupulous overseas seller accounts had hijacked our own product listings with ultra-discount pricing, pushing aside our own authentic and safe products.”
The company estimates at least 10,000 packs or roughly 100,000 counterfeit versions of their eclipse glasses were sold online, before Amazon.ca took down those product listings.
“Sadly, we have seen counterfeits of products from other reputable manufacturers as well and it seems all counterfeits are missing the metallic layer on the sun facing side,” Levy said.
An Amazon spokesperson told Global News that it continuously monitor its store and takes action to maintain a safe selection for customers, including removing non-compliant products.
Meanwhile, Health Canada told Global News that it has not received any reports of fake or counterfeit solar eclipse glasses being sold in the country.
Which eclipse glasses are safe?
Many Canadians will get to witness the total solar eclipse, the first to cross the country since 1979.
On April 8, the solar eclipse’s path of totality will pass through parts of Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador. Cities and towns outside the path of totality will see a partial solar eclipse.
Having the ISO standard means those glasses are inspected for safety and damaging rays won’t go through them, said Mark Eltis, a Toronto-based optometrist, in a previous interview with Global News.
A street vendor sells certificated sun glasses to watch the total solar eclipse in Pucon, Chile on December 12, 2020.
Photo by MARTIN BERNETTI/AFP via Getty Images
According to the AAS, this standard is set based on several properties such as transmittance, uniformity of transmittance, material and surface quality, mounting and labeling.
However, even counterfeit or fake eclipse glasses and other solar viewers can be labeled as ISO-compliant without being properly tested for safety, experts say.
“You’re going to find a lot of merchants that might be selling these online, and they might claim that they have this protection, but we’re not really sure if they’re actually well protected,” Jabbour said.
He said the best way find reliable merchants for safe eclipse sunglasses are by checking the list of suppliers vetted by the American Astronomical Society. It includes several authorized dealers in Canada.
Jabbour said you should also make sure that the glasses you get are not scratched because that can allow the ultraviolet (UV) light to enter your retina and cause damage.
Without a lab test, it is difficult for the naked eye to tell if a pair of eclipse glasses meet the ISO standard, since any vendor can slap the ISO logo on their product.
That is why getting them from a reliable source is important, Jabbour said.
However, there are some red flags to watch out for.
Joanne Hostetter, an employee with Explore Scientific, works on preparing Sun Catcher solar eclipse glasses to ship out to customers from the Explore Scientific store Tuesday Jan. 30, 2024, in Springdale, Ark.
AP Photo/Michael Woods
Levy, of Celestial Optical, said that counterfeits of their eclipse glasses do not show their name and address, which is a requirement of the ISO specification.
The sun-facing side of their glasses also has a metallic coating essential for safe solar viewing, unlike counterfeits, which typically have matte black lenses on both sides, the company noted in a March 19 news release.
The AAS says on its website that you shouldn’t be able to see anything through proper eclipse glasses, except for very bright lights, which should appear very faint through the glasses.
“If you can see anything else, such as household furnishings or pictures on the wall, your glasses aren’t dark enough for solar viewing.”
You can also test the glasses outside on a sunny day and make sure that the sun’s reflection off the surface appears very faint, AAS says.
And if you briefly look directly at the sun with legitimate eclipse eyewear, you should see a sharp-edged, round disk that’s comfortably bright.
5:39 Excitement mounting for Montreal’s total solar eclipse
How to watch the eclipse safely
Regular sunglasses should not be worn while looking at the eclipse, experts say.
Eltis suggests that when you put your special eclipse glasses on, you should look down at the ground before looking up at the sun, and then look down again after viewing the eclipse.
While it may be tempting to take off your eclipse glasses at the time of totality — which will last between one and four minutes — Eltis cautioned that it could be dangerous if you are not sure when exactly the total solar eclipse is happening. Even a sliver of sunlight can do damage to the eyes.
If you’re worried about directly looking at the eclipse, you can also view it indirectly through a pinhole projector.
Children should be fully supervised during the eclipse, both Eltis and Jabbour stressed.
— With files from Global News’ Katherine Ward and Eric Stober
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The body of Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei — who died after being set on fire by her partner in Kenya — was received Friday by family and anti-femicide crusaders, ahead of her burial a day later.
Cheptegei’s family met with dozens of activists Friday who had marched to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital’s morgue in the western city of Eldoret while chanting anti-femicide slogans.
She is the fourth female athlete to have been killed by her partner in Kenya in yet another case of gender-based violence in recent years.
Viola Cheptoo, the founder of Tirop Angels – an organization that was formed in honor of athlete Agnes Tirop, who was stabbed to death in 2021, said stakeholders need to ensure this is the last death of an athlete due to gender-based violence.
“We are here to say that enough is enough, we are tired of burying our sisters due to GBV,” she said.
It was a somber mood at the morgue as athletes and family members viewed Cheptegei’s body which sustained 80% of burns after she was doused with gasoline by her partner Dickson Ndiema. Ndiema sustained 30% burns on his body and later succumbed.
Ndiema and Cheptegei were said to have quarreled over a piece of land that the athlete bought in Kenya, according to a report filed by the local chief.
Cheptegei competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics less than a month before the attack. She finished in 44th place.
Cheptegei’s father, Joseph, said that the body will make a brief stop at their home in the Endebess area before proceeding to Bukwo in eastern Uganda for a night vigil and burial on Saturday.
“We are in the final part of giving my daughter the last respect,” a visibly distraught Joseph said.
He told reporters last week that Ndiema was stalking and threatening Cheptegei and the family had informed police.
Four in 10 women or an estimated 41% of dating or married Kenyan women have experienced physical or sexual violence perpetrated by their current or most recent partner, according to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2022.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A rare Bronze-Era jar accidentally smashed by a 4-year-old visiting a museum was back on display Wednesday after restoration experts were able to carefully piece the artifact back together.
Last month, a family from northern Israel was visiting the museum when their youngest son tipped over the jar, which smashed into pieces.
Alex Geller, the boy’s father, said his son — the youngest of three — is exceptionally curious, and that the moment he heard the crash, “please let that not be my child” was the first thought that raced through his head.
The jar has been on display at the Hecht Museum in Haifa for 35 years. It was one of the only containers of its size and from that period still complete when it was discovered.
The Bronze Age jar is one of many artifacts exhibited out in the open, part of the Hecht Museum’s vision of letting visitors explore history without glass barriers, said Inbal Rivlin, the director of the museum, which is associated with Haifa University in northern Israel.
It was likely used to hold wine or oil, and dates back to between 2200 and 1500 B.C.
Rivlin and the museum decided to turn the moment, which captured international attention, into a teaching moment, inviting the Geller family back for a special visit and hands-on activity to illustrate the restoration process.
Rivlin added that the incident provided a welcome distraction from the ongoing war in Gaza. “Well, he’s just a kid. So I think that somehow it touches the heart of the people in Israel and around the world,“ said Rivlin.
Roee Shafir, a restoration expert at the museum, said the repairs would be fairly simple, as the pieces were from a single, complete jar. Archaeologists often face the more daunting task of sifting through piles of shards from multiple objects and trying to piece them together.
Experts used 3D technology, hi-resolution videos, and special glue to painstakingly reconstruct the large jar.
Less than two weeks after it broke, the jar went back on display at the museum. The gluing process left small hairline cracks, and a few pieces are missing, but the jar’s impressive size remains.
The only noticeable difference in the exhibit was a new sign reading “please don’t touch.”
VICTORIA – The British Columbia government is partnering with a bear welfare group to reduce the number of bears being euthanized in the province.
Nicholas Scapillati, executive director of Grizzly Bear Foundation, said Monday that it comes after months-long discussions with the province on how to protect bears, with the goal to give the animals a “better and second chance at life in the wild.”
Scapillati said what’s exciting about the project is that the government is open to working with outside experts and the public.
“So, they’ll be working through Indigenous knowledge and scientific understanding, bringing in the latest techniques and training expertise from leading experts,” he said in an interview.
B.C. government data show conservation officers destroyed 603 black bears and 23 grizzly bears in 2023, while 154 black bears were killed by officers in the first six months of this year.
Scapillati said the group will publish a report with recommendations by next spring, while an independent oversight committee will be set up to review all bear encounters with conservation officers to provide advice to the government.
Environment Minister George Heyman said in a statement that they are looking for new ways to ensure conservation officers “have the trust of the communities they serve,” and the panel will make recommendations to enhance officer training and improve policies.
Lesley Fox, with the wildlife protection group The Fur-Bearers, said they’ve been calling for such a committee for decades.
“This move demonstrates the government is listening,” said Fox. “I suspect, because of the impending election, their listening skills are potentially a little sharper than they normally are.”
Fox said the partnership came from “a place of long frustration” as provincial conservation officers kill more than 500 black bears every year on average, and the public is “no longer tolerating this kind of approach.”
“I think that the conservation officer service and the B.C. government are aware they need to change, and certainly the public has been asking for it,” said Fox.
Fox said there’s a lot of optimism about the new partnership, but, as with any government, there will likely be a lot of red tape to get through.
“I think speed is going to be important, whether or not the committee has the ability to make change and make change relatively quickly without having to study an issue to death, ” said Fox.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2024.
