Fake and recalled eclipse glasses: how to tell if yours are in an alert

Yes, some glasses were recalled: last summer several of Spain’s regional governments ordered six models off the market, according to OCU, Spain’s consumer organisation, and on the day of the eclipse the newspaper Diario de León was already counting seven. They weren’t recalled for letting through too much light, but for being so dark that you couldn’t see the Sun, which tempted people to take them off. To find out whether yours are in an alert, note down the brand, model and batch number printed on them and look them up in the alert network of Spain’s Consumer Affairs ministry and in Safety Gate, the EU’s. If you’re keeping a pair for Monday 2 August 2027, do it beforehand: outside totality, which in the path falls around the maximum (between 10:46 and 10:51 Spanish time, CEST, UTC+2, depending on the place), the filter stays on.

Last summer’s recalls

This is the list OCU published on the eve of the eclipse, with the seventh model that Diario de León added the next day:

The reason, according to OCU: the filter’s transmittance was “below the established minimum”, the filter was “excessively dark” and all it let you see was “total darkness”. If you can’t find the Sun’s disc you tend to take the glasses off to look for it, and that’s when the retina gets damaged. OCU asked people not to use them and pointed out that they could be returned for a refund.

The overall picture was better than the list suggests. The inspection campaign that Spain’s Consumer Affairs ministry coordinated with eight regions found “a high degree of compliance as regards eye safety” and no deviations in the ultraviolet and infrared filters. The failings were of two kinds: models that let through less light than recommended, which according to the ministry are not a risk as long as you don’t take them off while looking, and incomplete paperwork or information.

How to check whether a pair of glasses is in an alert

1. Find the brand, model and batch number on the glasses, the box or the instructions. If none of that is there, that’s already a bad sign: OCU puts the batch number among the things they must carry.
2. Look them up in the Consumer Affairs ministry’s alert network, which the regional government of Castile and León presents as open “both to businesses and to consumers and users”: servicios.consumo.gob.es/rapnaPublic (in Spanish).
3. Look them up in Safety Gate as well, the EU’s rapid alert system for dangerous non-food products: ec.europa.eu/safety-gate-alerts.

If they don’t turn up in any alert, that only means nobody has reported them. Whether they’re any good is shown by the marking and the paperwork, as our guide to certified glasses explains.

Fakes: from Amazon in 2017 to Illinois in 2024

Fake glasses imitate exactly what you check. The American Astronomical Society (AAS) warns that anyone can print that their glasses meet ISO 12312-2, and that some companies have put the name of a manufacturer from its list on their own products. That’s why it asks you to buy directly from a listed manufacturer or from one of their authorised dealers, and never whatever comes up first in the ads.

Before the 2017 eclipse in the United States, according to Fox News, Amazon asked third-party sellers of eclipse glasses for documents proving that they met safety standards, took down the listings of those who didn’t provide them and warned the customers who had bought from them. In April 2024, according to NBC Chicago, health officials in Illinois asked people to check some glasses sold on Amazon and in six local shops: they were printed with the standard “EN ISO 12312-1:2022”, the one for sunglasses, instead of 12312-2, and Amazon told buyers that the product was not on the AAS list. Why part 1 is no good is explained in sunglasses for the eclipse (in Spanish).

The AAS home test, and its limit

The AAS suggests three tests, and the first two don’t involve looking at the Sun. Indoors, with good glasses you shouldn’t see anything, except perhaps very bright lights, which will look very faint; if you can make out the furniture or the pictures on the wall, they aren’t dark enough. Outside, in full daylight, you shouldn’t see anything either, apart from reflections of the Sun on shiny surfaces. The IGN (Spain’s National Geographic Institute) suggests something similar: try them first by looking at a light bulb.

The AAS itself sets the limit: if the glasses pass the tests, they are probably safe, because a good filter also blocks ultraviolet and infrared, which you can’t see, and the only way to be sure is for it to meet ISO 12312-2. And before each use, check them against the light: if the filter is torn, scratched, punctured or coming away from the frame, throw them away.

If yours are from last summer

The ones handed out by ONCE (Spain’s national organisation of blind people) were made of cardboard and, according to ONCE, were “certified for viewing the Trío de Eclipses”, the official name for the three eclipses seen from Spain between last summer and January 2028. If you stored them well they may still do, but check them first: do eclipse glasses expire? (in Spanish). If you’re going to buy new ones, do it early enough to look them over calmly (when to buy, where to buy).

On Order your glasses you can ask for ours: cardboard, with the EN ISO 12312-2 certificate, along with the phone filter and packs for groups. We reply with the price and the delivery time.

Sources: OCU — recall of eclipse glasses (in Spanish: the six models with their batch numbers and the region that reported them; the reason; don’t use them and ask for a refund; the batch number among the things they must carry); Diario de León — seven models recalled (in Spanish: the seventh model and the alert network); Spain’s Ministry of Social Rights, Consumer Affairs and 2030 Agenda — press release (in Spanish: results of the inspection campaign); Regional government of Castile and León — inspection campaign on eclipse glasses (in Spanish: the alerts in the alert network and its public link); Safety Gate, European Commission (the EU alert system); AAS — How to tell if viewers are safe (the home tests and their limit; manufacturers’ names printed on other companies’ products; where to buy; when to throw them away); Fox News — Amazon and eclipse glasses in 2017 (documents from sellers, listings taken down and buyers warned); NBC Chicago — glasses recalled in Illinois (the EN ISO 12312-1:2022 label and Amazon’s warning); IGN — Cómo observar los eclipses (in Spanish: testing them with a light bulb); ONCE — the free glasses giveaway (in Spanish: cardboard glasses for the trio of eclipses); totality times: eclipseando data (skyfield engine + DE440s).