Arctic Photokeratitis

In the world’s Arctic regions the local communities suffer from a polar phenomenon - photokeratitis.

Photokeratitis arises through the burning of the cornea (the clear front surface of the eye). It’s also called snowblindness.

The condition typically occurs on highly reflective snow fields. Fresh snow reflects about 80% of the UV radiation compared to a dry, sandy beach (15%) or sea surface (25%). This is a problem in polar regions.

Photokeratitis is a widely spread disease on Baffin Island, Greenland and Siberia.

Particularly glacier sunglasses, which we collect, can prevent the harm of photokeratitis.