Photochromic failure

[drk]

We have a guy in an essilor lens with an essilor AR with an essilor photochromic in polycarbonate. Twice, now, separated by about a year, his Transitions Gray lenses have increasing residual color in the unactivated state. Strangely, it looks brown-yellowish, is about 15-20% density, and it's distributed according to the mass of the lens, i.e. he's -4.50 and it's darker at the edges than the center, like an in-mass tint.

Anyone have any ideas why this guy would keep doing whatever it is he's doing, and what the issue is? He does admit to being outdoors a lot.

[Alex Camblor]

I see this all the time with transitions lenses as they get past the 1 year mark.

[Lensman11]

That does not seem possible with polycarbonate as you know the tint is in the coating. I would go back to Essilor with this one.

[AngeHamm]

That does not seem possible with polycarbonate as you know the tint is in the coating. I would go back to Essilor with this one.

My undertanding is that, starting with Transitions VI, the photochromic molecules are in the material the lens is made of, not in a coating.

I have Transitions lenses much older than this patient's, and they all look identical to the day I got them. This is a very strange situation.

[drk]

I couldn't figure it out, either. I think the photochromic pigments are imbibed, therefore anterior on the lens, right?

[Lensman11]

Imbibing is only possible on certain materials even what you believe to be cr 39 is slightly modified to accept the transition molecule. As far as I know non tintable lens materials cannot be imbibed. If the Poly lenses you have are not uniform in color and they have made the material itself photochromic it would be the only material in that category except for glass. One of the selling points for transitions was a uniform tint no matter what the thickness of the lens.

[drk]

Lensman, you rock!

Sooo...Transitions Poly is NOT imbibed but in-mass, therefore I'm just seeing premature exhaustion of the photochromic properties.

(One more ding on the material of ill-repute.)

Now, the last mystery is why this dude's lenses have done this twice. He volunteered he's "outside a lot". I wonder if being activated extensively can cause premature exhaustion. (Hey, that sounds like me.)

[drk]

https://www.transitions.com/en-us/wh...ochromic-tech/

https://www.2020mag.com/article/deco...sitions-lenses

Transitions went trans. That shouldn't be suprising.

Hey, I have a whole lot of Transitions marketing thoughts, all of a sudden...

[drk]

https://www.opticaltraining.com/html...page_four.html

Holy smokes I'm soooo out of touch. Late 1990's?

[drk]

https://www.optiboard.com/forums/sho...the-difference

[PRECISIONLAB]

I've seen this with non-Transitions products. There are some photochromic poly AR lenses on the market that fail per your description.

Insist on box tops or lens packing from your lab as proof of Transitions being processed. If not switch labs! Your current lab should not be substituting product preference as a cost saving measure for them.

[Elvis Is Alive]

I used Life RX poly photochromic lenses for about 6 months around 12 years ago. At the time it was the only Poly FT28 option for photochromic if I remember correctly.

Unfortunately, they were a laminate and almost every single pair came back within 6 months delaminating. Never used it again, no idea if it is still made that way.

[EyeTrek]

I used Life RX poly photochromic lenses for about 6 months around 12 years ago. At the time it was the only Poly FT28 option for photochromic if I remember correctly.

Unfortunately, they were a laminate and almost every single pair came back within 6 months delaminating. Never used it again, no idea if it is still made that way.

We experienced the same thing. They were the only photochromic available for Poly FT28. Almost all of them delaminated.

[AngeHamm]

I used Life RX poly photochromic lenses for about 6 months around 12 years ago. At the time it was the only Poly FT28 option for photochromic if I remember correctly.

Unfortunately, they were a laminate and almost every single pair came back within 6 months delaminating. Never used it again, no idea if it is still made that way.

Even today, your only other option is a hybrid Transitions product in a FT28 which is also--you guessed it--laminated.