Science Safety Goggles

Science safety goggles are a must when it comes to protecting your eyes from chemicals or debris. Whether science is your job or you're a student forced to take a chemistry class, the goggles could save your vision. Granted, they're not the prettiest eyewear to look at, and it's hard to use them to make a statement. Sometimes they are confused with safety glasses which offer less protection.

Protect your eyes in the lab.

Use Them to Pick Up Chicks

Ok, not really. But just because they're a little nerdy, that shouldn't deter you from protecting your eyes. Even when it comes to science, safety goggles don't have to be the epitome of nerdiness. There are some styles out there that look—-if not flattering—-at least less awkward than the traditional safety goggles used in labs. If you're buying your own, consider looking around for a style you really like. If you're borrowing them from the school while in class, take comfort in the fact that everyone else is wearing the exact same kind and looks exactly as silly as you think you do.

In Your Element

Even if a science lab feels like home sweet home to you, you're going to need science safety goggles. Accidents often happen when the people involved feel completely at ease doing whatever it is they're doing. That's why you'll need the goggles every time you do a science experiment—you never know when an explosion could pop up or chemicals could fly into your eye.

If you're researching safety goggles for classroom use, you understand the lawsuits that could arise if your students didn't wear them. No matter how skilled you and your students are, going sans safety goggles isn't an option.

How They Work

The shape of most safety goggles is one thing that makes them so effective at protecting your eyes from danger. When that beaker turns over and liquid splatters, your eyes will be protected because the glasses are designed to hug your face or in the very least, the materials from which they're made will stand up to chemicals and flying debris. There's often a shield on both sides as well as the top and bottom. For a snug fit, they attach via an elastic band that goes around the wearer's head.

Goggles can block sharp instruments or glass, preservation chemicals used in dissections, bodily fluids, dust, splatters, bacterium, or flying objects—all things you are likely to find in one type of science class or lab or another. Since there are so many threats in a science lab, there are different types of goggles to choose from for optimal eye safety:

Splash goggles are ideal for situations that involve liquids that may, as the name implies, splash up.

Ultraviolet goggles are designed to protect against eye damage in conditions where UV rays are present.

Impact goggles are generally made with polycarbonate lenses so they won't shatter when flying debris comes near your eyes.

There are also ANSI standards glasses and goggles have to adhere to. Here are a couple:

• Stronger than average frames
• Lenses that can pass a test called the "drop ball" test. As you may expect, that involves dropping a heavy ball on the lenses from a certain height to see if they break. If they do, they fail the test. If they don't break, the lenses pass.

Find Your Science Safety Goggles

So now we have to live up to our promise—find some safety glasses you might actually want to wear. Here are a few to consider. Of course, if you're in school, they may provide you with safety glasses to use while you're there. Either way, they tend to be relatively expensive when there's no prescription involved.

• SciPlus offers a wraparound style that they consider less comedic than others. There's also the traditional style if you feel like going old school. If you're looking for any other science lab supplies, this is a good place to pick them up.

• Science Company doesn't offer any particularly fashionable safety goggles, but they do have juniors' sizes which, if you're small, can make quite a bit of difference! Safety glasses feel so much more awkward—and more dangerous—to wear when they don't cup the face correctly. You can get the adult or youth sizes of economy goggles, or you can purchase the junior splash goggles.

• Safety Glasses has prescription and even bifocal safety glasses.

Buying for Science Class

If you're in charge of purchasing science safety goggles for a classroom, the budget it probably your biggest concern. Since the students won't own them and will spend very little time in them, it doesn't matter if they're on the cutting edge of lab fashion, either, so feel confident checking out the basics.

Check the above sites as well as others like Pellet Lab to find exactly the eye protection you're looking for.

For more information about using safety goggles in class, visit LoveToKnow Safety.

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