R-II cancels classes amid eclipse glasses fears
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The Maryville R-II School District has announced that it is canceling classes Monday due to concerns that darkened glasses intended for distribution to students in order to view that day’s solar eclipse may be defective.
According to an automated phone message issued to parents Saturday evening, the glasses, purchased from Amazon.com, are suspected to be counterfeit.
In news reports over the past week, online retailer Amazon announced that it was taking action against potentially counterfeit solar eclipse glasses.
The company said it had issued refunds to customers who purchased glasses that “may not comply with industry standards.”
According to CNN, Amazon also removed some listings for glasses from its website “out of an abundance of caution.”
The Amazon statement continued: “We asked third-party sellers that were offering solar eclipse glasses to provide documentation to verify their products were compliant with relevant safety standards. The offers from sellers who provided this safety documentation remain available to customers.
“The listings from sellers who did not provide the appropriate documentation have been removed and customers who purchased from them were notified last week. …”
The statement said the suspect glasses were not necessarily proven to be substandard, but that Amazon had not received verification that they were ISO-compliant.
The American Astronomical Society has issued a warning about viewing the eclipse “in response to alarming reports” of unsafe glasses selling online.
“The marketplace is being flooded by counterfeit eclipse glasses,” the society’s release stated.
The organization said buyers should be suspicious even of glasses stamped with an ISO seal, which has been used in the past to indicate protective lenses that comply with standards set by the International Organization for Standardization.
According to news reports Friday, other agencies warning of defective, counterfeit glasses include the Missouri state park system, which issued a notice stating that eclipse glasses and viewers purchased at state parks and historic sites may not be safe.
