How can you tell if solar eclipse glasses are fake? In the world of solar eclipse glasses, there’s a number that you should always look for to ensure you’re using safe, vetted products. That number is ISO 12312-2, and its appearance on the cardboard arms means you’re good to go, right?
If only it were that simple. Whatever it says on your eclipse glasses, be prepared that they may still be counterfeit. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re dangerous to use—as reported yesterday by scientists at the American Astronomical Society Solar Eclipse Task Force.
Fake Eclipse Glasses
Although dozens of companies resell solar eclipse glasses in all kinds of custom designs, in North America, the products themselves come mainly from two companies—American Paper Optics and Rainbow Symphony, so it follows that these brands are the ones falling victim to fakes.
“We have seen a lot of fake eclipse glasses that have our name printed on them as the manufacturer,” said Jason Lewin at American Paper Optics in an email. “We can see a huge difference, but to the uninformed person at home, it’s all the same—and that scares me.”
Raw Material
Both American Paper Optics and Rainbow Symphony are reliant on another U.S.-based company for the raw material for their solar eclipse glasses. Kingman, Arizona-based Thousand Oaks Optical makes the all-important silver-black polymer film used by manufacturers of cardboard solar eclipse glasses. It’s been doing so for over 40 years.
“The silver black polymer film that’s used in the eclipse glasses and viewers is a product that we developed,” said Pat Steele, owner of Thousand Oaks Optical, in an interview. “We’ve had companies in China that say they’re getting our film, but they’re not—it’s very common in this business that fly-by-night companies will use our name, and it’s not really our product.”
Fraudulent Business
A product claiming to be made in the U.S. when it does not certainly constitutes fraud, but it may not be dangerous. “People who accidentally buy counterfeit eclipse glasses should freak out only because they’re supporting a fraudulent business,” said Dr. Rick Fienberg at the American Astronomical Society’s Solar Eclipse TaskForce. “It doesn’t mean that the filters are unsafe—it’s not really a safety issue as much as it is a business practices issue.”
While testing 43 different solar eclipse glasses from a variety of origins for a paper published in 2021, Fienberg found that all of them complied with the U.V. and I.R. requirements of the ISO standard. It actually proved to be more of a quality issue than a safety issue, with the sun appearing either uncomfortably bright or unacceptably dark through some products. But they all fell within the limits of the ISO standard, and none were judged to be dangerous (if you want to get into the details, read Fienberg’s comprehensive How Can You Tell If Your Eclipse Glasses or Handheld Solar Viewers Are Safe? guide on the AAS website).
“A couple of samples I’ve seen were more to the light side, which raises concerns about whether they were tested or not,” said Steele. “It’s so hard to police.” Eclipse glasses are manufactured using Thousand Oaks Optical’s film, which is silver on the sun-facing side and black on the eye-facing side. “If it’s black on both sides, it’s one indication that it’s not our film,” said Steele. “It was pretty exclusive for a while, but Chinese companies did their best to copy it.”
Avoiding Counterfeits
The best way to check if a company selling eclipse glasses is known to deal in ISO-certified products is to look for them on Fienberg’s painstakingly compiled and double-checked Suppliers of Safe Solar Filters & Viewers list on the American Astronomical Society’s website. Using this list is by far the most reliable way to ensure you don’t buy counterfeit products that make misleading claims.
“That’s not a 100% guarantee, but it’s the first step,” said Steele, who has concerns about the ISO certification process, whereby U.S. labs use a spectrophotometer to shine intense U.V., visible, and I.R. light through the filter and measure how much gets through at each wavelength. “A lab can test a sample of somebody’s film—and who knows where that sample came from—but that doesn’t mean that all the film that they’re supplying meets the standard,” said Steele. “It’s just the way it is—not every square foot of film can be tested.”
Spike In Demand
As April 8 draws closer, demand for eclipse glasses is spiking. “Our consumer orders have ramped up around 400% in the last few months, so our manufacturing has had to do the same,” said Lewin. “We made 50 million glasses in 2017. This year, I estimate that we will make closer to 75 million glasses. I can’t tell you how many calls we get from people who need 25,000 glasses ASAP.”
As demand soars, so does the prevalence of Chinese-made products, which could help stave off any shortage. “There’s a lot of material coming in from China, and there seems to be an endless supply of resellers popping up all the time,” said Fienberg. However, it’s raising concerns about quality control. “There are a lot of companies, mostly from China, that want to get in on it and don’t have a safety record—it’s a little frustrating,” said Steele. “We obviously know what we’re doing, but the new companies that want to get in on it, here’s some concern—but no serious safety issues that I’ve heard about so far.”
For the latest on all aspects of April 8’s total solar eclipse in North America, check my main feed for new articles each day.
Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.
