Scratchy eyes?

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Im trying to figure out whats making my eyes feel scratchy. I welded a little today, 11 lens, no accidental flashes etc.  I did have a white shirt on at the start. There was a flashing inside my hood so I switched to a black shirt which stopped that. I wear prescription glasses which are fairly small unlilke safety glasses that cover around the eye etc. Im actually not sure is regular glasses are UV safe or not. I wouldn't think so...Only other thing is the walls inside the 40 by 60ft shop are almost white i guess. Only thing is this doesn't seem to cause a reflection in my helmet so I don't know how much of a factor that is.Would wearing UV safety glasses help?
Reply:most definitly,backflash from the walls can really light you up and it doesnt always brighten the inside of your hood.insert thoughtful quote from someone else2000 Thermal Arc 300GTSW 3.5 hours1946 Monarch 20 x 54 Lathe1998 Supermax 10x54 Mill2004 Haco Atlantic 1/2" Capacity Lasernot mine but i get to play with it
Reply:UV can be reflected so it's possible that with the small glasses under the hood, you were getting some reflection around them and into the eyes. Regular glass adsorbs most UV so that should  not be a problem, I'd think.    If this happens frequently or at least occasionally, you could get some non-prescription magnifying glasses w/ larger lenses from somewhere like Wallgreen and see if that corrects the problem.  If it doesn't, then try special UV glasses (sunglasses w/ a high UV rating.)  That will tell you if too much is getting through.Any chance that you were getting fumes from whatever you were welding today, something different from normal?
Reply:Yeah, I was arc welding with 6010. And yeah I probably was getting some fumes. Could this be a problem...Man I don't know where to start. Looks like I have a bunch of possible problems.
Reply:Before I had to start wearing glasses I worked in a shop with 6 other welders. I burned my eyes at least once a week. When I got my first pair of glasses I had the UV coating put on them (and every pair since). I have burned my eyes 2 times in the 23 years since I started wearing them. The smoke off of 6010/6011 will do a real number on your eyes. It will burn your throat and lungs as well. So will the smoke off of flux cored wire. It isn't a good idea to breath the fumes off any electrode (Lincoln has info on this). Try to keep your head out of them. I set up a fan to blow them away if I am inside or there is no breeze. It helps a lot.The difference between art and craft is the quality of the workmanship. I am an artist.