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12 Interesting Goggles and Eye Safety Facts for Kids 2024

Goggles have been specially designed to prevent particles and other external stimuli from entering your eyes. Keeping your eyes safe is extremely important, especially if you want to make sure that you are able to see for the rest of your life! In this article, we are going to take a closer look at some interesting facts about goggles and eye safety. We’ll look at why they are important and some facts that you might not already know. Let’s dive right in!

Goggles and Eye Safety Facts for Kids

What Are Goggles?

Goggles are a type of eyewear that is designed to protect your eyes from eternal stimuli, like dust, chlorine, and water. They are generally used in a variety of situations, like in a swimming pool, when woodworking, and even in chemistry labs. Athletes also use goggles in various snow sports, such as alpine skiing, ski jumping, and snowboarding. 

It’s also worth noting that many laborers use goggles when working with power tools, like chainsaws, soldering irons, or drills. The goggles prevent sparks from going into their eyes and making them go blind. 

10 Interesting Facts About Goggles and Eye Safety

1. Eye goggles have indigenous roots!

Eye goggles

One of the most interesting things to note about the invention of eye goggles is that they were actually first invented by the Inuit and Yupik people. These two indigenous groups lived in extremely cold places in North America and Russia and needed a solution to combat snow blindness. They created snow goggles by using caribou antlers, wood, and shells. Each pair of goggles was curved to fit each person’s face, and had a groove carved into the middle to rest on the nose. They also cut a slit into the goggles to allow the user to see, but the slit was small enough to keep the UV rays out. 

2. Swedish goggles are the most popular type of swimming goggles. 

There are various types of goggles, and Swedish goggles are the ones that swimmers generally wear. These goggles came out in the late 70s and were manufactured by the company Malmsten AB. These goggles are extremely popular because they don’t have a seal or gasket around the eye cup, unlike other types of goggles. Swedish goggles are sold in different colors, like pink, blue, green, black, amber, red, and metallic colors like bronze and silver. 

3. Goggles are not suitable for diving in a sea or a swimming pool.  

Swimming glasses

It’s important to note that you cannot and should not wear goggles when diving in a swimming pool or the ocean. Water is denser than air, and when you dive, you fall into the water head first. Therefore, when you dive, the pressure of the water will smack against the goggles and injure you by giving you a black eye. 

4. Burns are a common source of injuring your eyes. 

The reason it’s important to wear goggles when working with power tools is that burns are a common source of eye injury. For instance, welders often suffer from thermal burns because they did not wear goggles while working, and can sometimes lose their vision entirely. In addition to getting burnt, people also harm their vision by not wearing goggles when working with wood, nails, and staples. 

5. Basketball players sometimes wear goggles on the court. 

Various NBA players like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kurt Rambis, James Worthy, and Horace Grant have all worn goggles on the basketball court during games. They did this to protect their eyes from getting scratched in the eye or hit by other players when trying to get the ball. In some cases, when players had already sustained injuries to their eyes, they often wore goggles to prevent further injury. 

6. AN-6530 goggles were used during World War II. 

Army mans in World war II

When airplanes had open cockpits, pilots often wore goggles to protect their eyes from dust and debris when in the air. The AN-6530 goggles were produced for the American Army and Navy flight crews during the Second World War. These goggles are made of steel and nickel-plated brass. 

7. Fatal Vision goggles are used as a type of training tool. 

An interesting thing about Fatal Vision goggles is that they are used by police officers as a type of training tool. They are used to help simulate the effects of recreational drugs and alcohol without having participants actually ingest those substances at all. There are different models of these goggles, each with a different range of blood alcohol content. While the company that manufactures these goggles claims that they can effectively teach people about the negative effects of substance abuse, there is no accurate data to back up these claims. 

8. There is a special form of goggles for dogs called Doggles. 

Goggles for dogs

If you’re an animal lover, it might interest you to know that there is a special goggle brand for dogs called Doggles!  Doggles is a brand that manufactures tinted goggles for dogs that perfect frame a dog’s the shape of a dog’s head and face. Although these goggles were first manufactured as a fashion accessory for dogs, they have since proven to be useful for many dog owners across the world, such as for military dogs in Iraq, and dogs with autoimmune or vision problems. 

9. It is important to wear eye protection when cleaning your home. 

Protecting your eyes at home is just as important as protecting your eyes when you’re at work. Many eye injuries take place indoors! For instance, cleaning products often contain ingredients like bleach. If you’re doing a home improvement project, there’s a good chance that you could sustain injuries from nails, screws, or even hand tools! Make sure you wear goggles at home to avoid damaging your eyes. 

10. Over 2,000 people experience eye injuries every year. 

This is why it is extremely important to wear goggles when working with dangerous materials or power tools. It’s also worth noting that this number is based on medical data, so there’s a good chance that the number of people who experience eye-related injuries is much higher in the United States. 

Conclusion

In this article, we took you through some fun facts about goggles and eye safety. It’s no secret that keeping your eyes safe is important, and using a pair of goggles is the easiest way to do so! We were pleasantly surprised to learn about some of the facts mentioned above, particularly about the goggles for dogs. If you want to preserve your vision for the rest of your life, make sure you buy a good pair of goggles soon!