Solar Retinopathy as a Function of Wavelength: Its Significance for Protective Eyewear

The paper of Verhoeff and Bell (1) in 1916 became a landmark in the history of radiation injury to the retina. These authors demonstrated that high intensities of light on the retina produced burn lesions. In their own words, “our experiments show with the utmost distinctness that the effects known as eclipse blindness are wholly thermic, due to the intense concentrations of the solar energy upon the retina by the refracting system of the eye itself forming an image of destructive energy intensity---”. This emphasis on thermal injury, particularly for solar retinitis and eclipse blindness, tended during the ensuing years to obfuscate other possible effects of light on retinal tissue.

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