The Importance of UV Protective Clothing

The skin is one of the most important organs and is by far the largest as it provides protection for our bones, muscles and internal organs. The skin can also be considered as the most vulnerable organ as it is exposed to the outside world. There are several factors that pose a threat to the well-being of the skin, which all depends on where you live in the world. Different places in the world have distinct weather conditions and these can be a threat to our health, especially for people who are not used to such weather conditions. For people who have adapted to certain weather conditions, the body often makes some changes to the nature of the skin that are aimed at countering the harmful effects of such conditions.

One weather condition that is notorious for having harmful effects on the skin is sunlight. Direct and strong sunlight is mostly experienced in areas near to the equator. This is so since the distance from the sun to the earth is shortest at the equator. Normally the longer the sun rays travel, the weaker they get so the areas around the equator receive the strongest sun rays compared to all other parts of the world. An example of such a region that receives strong sunlight is Australia.

Full coverage

This underlines the concept behind sun protective clothing. The sun’s rays are made up of ultraviolet (UV) radiation therefore sun protective clothing can be interchanged with ultra violet protective clothing. In fact they generally stand for the same thing. Ultraviolet protective clothing can be defined as clothes that have been specially designed to help reduce the harmful effects of ultraviolet radiation on the skin. These clothes are made from some special forms of fabric that have been rated and approved for their level of UV protection. In fact over the years modifications have been made and these fabrics have been treated with UV inhibiting elements which has resulted in an improvement in the performance of these clothes.

Good UV protective clothing should ensure full coverage of the most vulnerable parts of our bodies so long sleeves and full collars are often included in UV protective tops.

These clothes are meant for wear during warm and humid weather conditions so garments are often designed with ventilated weaves and moisture wicking features that help in the cooling and breathing of the body. One major parameter that comes into play in the design of UV protective clothing is the Ultraviolet Protection Factor or UPF. This is a ratio between the rates of sun burning causing Ultraviolet radiation on skin that has been covered in sunscreen from the UV radiation amount required to cause the same sunburn on skin that is not covered in sunscreen. This ratio is related to the Sun Protection Factor or SPF which represents the same parameters for sunscreen.

Mathematically it has been established that normal fabrics have their UPF at six while UV protection clothing could have a UPF value of up to 30, which means that only a single unit out of the possible 30 of UV radiation will pass through the UV protection clothing.

Skin cancer

Exposing your skin to a lot of UV rays is risky and can cause skin cancer. To understand the significance of this clothing we must understand the harmful effects of UV radiation.

One significance of UV protection clothing is to help prevent sunburn. This condition also known as erythema is a condition that makes the skin become red after a long period of exposure to UV radiation. This redness is caused by an increased blood flow in the skin due to the dilation of the superficial blood vessels, especially in the dermis layer of the skin.

Suntan

The second significance of UV protection clothing is to help reduce tanning. Tanning is a condition that refers to the delayed melanin pigmentation on an individual. This condition results from a general increase in the number of pigment cells which can be attributed to the general increase in the activity of an enzyme called tyrosinase which leads to the establishment of new volumes of melanin and the melanin granules in the epidermis of the skin. This condition is however advantageous in some ways as it also plays a part in helping reduce the harmful effects of direct ultra violet radiations. However for people who wish to keep their skin colour as it is, they should consider putting on UV protection clothing so that they can avoid the effects of tanning.

Early skin ageing

The third significance of UV protection clothing is to help reduce premature aging of the skin. Most people treasure their skin and would not want to appear older than they are. This premature aging of the skin is caused by some crucial structural changes in the dermis of an individual’s skin caused by direct and prolonged exposure of the skin to UV radiation. The signs of premature aging of the skin include dryness of the skin, formation of skin furrows, sagging of the skin and loss of elasticity among other symptoms.

This condition is quite dangerous as it accumulates over time and most of the symptoms are generally irreversible. It has been established that a staggering 80 per cent of premature aging of the skin may happen in an individual’s first twenty years of his or her life. It is therefore important that you ensure you wear UV protective clothing, especially if you live in places that experience a lot of sunlight. This is so since this condition is chronic and you may never know whenever it is building up as it manifests itself after a long period of time.

Protecting our immune system

The fourth significance of UV protection clothing is to help reduce suppression of the immune system. This is a condition that has long been associated with the exposure of the skin to UV radiation and it is the key factor to chronic conditions such as skin cancer. This condition works in the situation whereby the ultraviolet radiation has been seen to contribute significantly to the state of suppression of the immune system which in turn prevents tumour rejection. This is done by interfering with the surveillance function of the antigen that is present in the Langerhans cells in the epidermis layer of the human skin. This antigen is responsible for the detection of any foreign antigens that may appear on the skin of an individual. This suppression therefore allows the harmful cells to act and multiply leading to conditions such as skin cancer.

Cancer is a very bad condition as it has claimed countless lives all over the world and is very costly to treat. It is therefore important that you put on UV protection clothing whenever you are exposed to direct sunlight to avoid this condition. There are different forms of skin cancer but they are all linked to exposure to direct sunlight. UV rays have a damaging effect on the DNA of an individual and this is also another way that you can get skin cancer.

In Australia there are several companies that deal with the production of UV protection swimwear and clothes. However out of all these companies Stingray stands out as one of the best retailers of these clothes, not only in Australia but all over the world.