THE Cairns supplier of solar eclipse glasses has assured Far Northerners they are safe.

Nic Zymaras has been struggling to keep up with demand for the glasses since his first order arrived in April, with more than 30,000 pairs expected to be sold by the time Cairns falls to darkness on Wednesday morning next week.

But he has been forced to defend the safety of the glasses after recent warnings from health professionals about the dangers of looking at the sun directly through glasses.

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Mr Zymaras said the glasses were approved by the University of New South Wales' School of Optometry and Vision Science after a rigorous testing process.

"There's really no way they're unsafe," he said.

Mr Zymaras said after extensive research he chose the glasses, which use a polymer film made by US manufacturer Rainbow Symphony, a company that also produces filters for telescopes.

"They've been making them for 13 years and they've never had an issue,'' he said.

The solar glasses were also approved by the State Government's Office of Fair Trading and have been backed by the Advance Cairns solar eclipse taskforce.

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