Offgassing of Plastic Lenses

Don't be ridiculous. Cataracts have been around a lot longer than plastic lenses.

GA. OP is just looking for a litigation-based handout.

I am sincerely sorry but what you wrote is not logical. There is a possibility that those gases are "a new reason " for cataracts. I had for instance a cataract due to a traumatism (a small stone) received in my right eye over 35 years ago. Most of them are due to age but not all. Thre are so many reasons that we cannot argument as you did. New technologies may introduce new dangers. I do not discuss the truth of it only that your argument is not right.

I accept your statement. It may be an additional reason that some people get cataracts.

This is correct. It is not inconceivable that direct contact with substances degassing or diffusing from a plastic could cause cataracts.

Known causes include " severe trauma to the eye, eye surgery, or intraocular inflammation.....excessive ultraviolet-light exposure, diabetes, smoking, or the use of certain medications, such as oral, topical, or inhaled steroids. Other medications that are more weakly associated with cataracts include the long-term use of statins and phenothiazines."

From the chemical standpoint, proteins in the natural lens are responsible for its clarity, and changes to the structure of these proteins causes cloudiness = cataracts. So the question is, what would be leaching from a plastic, that would interact with proteins for chemical reasons, or else simply cause inflammation (from the list of causes).

Who said anything about direct contact?

"plastic eye glass lenses" do not come into direct contact with the eye. Re-read the OP.

You, and perhaps others, have confused this with contact lenses.

You're right! I thought he was talking about contact lenses. Mea culpa.

I find it hard to imagine that eyeglasses would degas sufficiently to cause eye irritation of any kind! If so, I expect they'd go straight into the trash....

Very good question/issue. Recent studies on BPA (Bisphenol-A) traces in Polycarbonate suggest that there is a possibility. Polycarbonate is a premium plastic used for lenses. However when a lense is manufactured and stored -that BPA and (other if any gases exist) might desorb easily because the the lense is so thin. But do we know the traces are gases or liquid or solids? I am not sure!!

Since we can now count atoms with todays technology, (parts per billion routinely)any and every atom that can me counted can be charged with being the cause.

Whether it actually IS the cause. That, That is a different issue.

Milo

I have had Cataract surgery in both eyes and I never wore glasses before. So I don't believe plastic had anything to do with it.

Very interesting question. NASA has done extensive study on off-gassing of materials because it is a much greater problem in the low pressure of space. One test called VCM (volatile condensible materials) is commonly performed on plastics and other materials. I suspect if you enter VCM into a search engine, you will find lots of relevant information including labs that perform this test. Don't be discouraged by experts who tell you that cataracts have been around longer than contact lenses. Cancer has been around longer than some of the carcinogens we have developed.

I agree with, "Don't be discouraged by experts who tell you that cataracts have been around longer than contact lenses."

Like I said in an earlier post, I developed cataracts in both eyes around the same time and had to have surgery. Prior to that I had never worn glasses or contacts. It could be that the off-gassing from plastic eyeglass lenses helps the development of cataracts, I'm no scientist. All I know is it didn't have squat to do with mine.

The NASA publication is Outgassing Data for Selecting Spacecraft Materials .

The only problem with this data is that is intended to quantify the % of a material that could condense on optical surfaces or switch contacts, etc. and does not identify the offgassed/condensed materials.

It is also bears no resemblance to what actually happens here on earth.

I'm not into nit-picking, but first you need to know whether a material will off-gas, then you may want to identify the condensate. So I think the NASA data is a good first step.

"It is also bears no resemblance to what actually happens here on earth."

I disagree. It may happen more slowly on earth, but things that don't off-gas in space, are not likely to do it on earth. Think of space as an accelerated life test chamber.

Well, I don't mind nit picking if it will keep this discussion on track with the OP's question.

You said:

"Don't be discouraged by experts who tell you that cataracts have been around longer than contact lenses"

Once again, this discussion is not about contact lenses.

I quote: "Is there any environmental research on off gassing of plastic eye glass lenses."

I don't think we know for sure what type of corrective optics OP was referring to. The term "plastic eye glass" is an oxymoron that could refer to contact lenses or spectacles. In either (or both) cases, it's an interesting question.

You are distorting the facts by ommitting the word lenses.

I see nothing oxymoronic at all about "plastic eye glass lenses".

OK, I'm done nit-picking.

how about "Is there any environmental research on off gassing of plastics used in the manufacture of eye glass lenses" or "are there any restrictions or compliance issues for the use of specific plastics in the manufacture of eyeglasses."

I have certainly encountered plastics (but not in lenses) which offgassed in a very offensive manner that was readily detected by sense of smell. In dollar store items, for example, but also in plastic items sold elsewhere. NOT in any eyeglasses (nor in sunglasses) that I have personally encountered, even though I have half a dozen pairs from the dollar store, it's true.

But we don't know where the OP is located, or what products the OP is raising the question of. Or if the OP is a maker of plastic eye glass lenses that are smelly, and the issue of safety of the offgassing has been raised. It would be a mistake to reassure the OP that this is not an issue, when we do not know it in fact.

So more questions for the OP (if still available for comment): Do you have a reason to believe there is outgassing from the glasses in question (eg by smell)? Do you know the name of the plastic used to manufacture the glasses?

Milo

Plastic eyeglass lens are coated. The coating might out gas but I really doubt it, because if they did they would be useless as a coating. Hard coatings to protect the lens from scratching are on the outside of other coatings to reduce reflections. Seems very unlikely that these would be very permeable or out gas themselves.