The ABCs of UV Radiation The sun provides warmth, light, and life.
It can also deliver blistering sunburns, premature aging, and skin cancer.
In fact, during your lifetime, the sun showers literally tons of damaging photons onto your naked flesh.
The sun emits three kinds of ultraviolet light: long-wavelength UV radiation a light, medium-wavelength UVB radiation, and short-wavelength UVC radiation.
The shorter the wavelength, the stronger the light.
UVC radiation is absorbed by out atmosphere and never reaches the earth, which is a good thing because it has the strength to kill us instantly.
On the other hand, the longer the UV radiation rays do penetrate the atmosphere, and between the two they cause plenty of damage to our skin.
As the ozone layer gets thinner, penetration by all wavelengths of UV radiation rays increases, resulting in earlier and more aggressive skin damage.
UV Radiation: UVB, The Burning Rays We'll begin with UVB rays, which you are no doubt familiar with, as these are the UV radiation rays that cause painful and visible sunburns.
They're the ones your mother always warned you about because they're strongest between 10:00 a.
m.
and 2:00 p.
m.
during the summer months, when sunlight hits the earth more directly.
In the United States, the labeling of sunscreens, regulated by the FDA, is measured according to the SPF (sun protection factor) grading system for UV radiation protection.
The SPF number or UV radiation index refers to the product's ability to block out UVB radiation but does not pertain to the product's ability to block UV-A radiation.
Along with burning ( think B for "burn"), UVB radiation rays can also cause skin cancer.
The cancers associated with UVB radiation are most commonly the nonmelanoma types, basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas.
If you incur this burning you will need to have your skin treated for UV sterilization and UV irradiation.
These are the skin cancers that originate in the epidermis, the top layer of your skin, where the shorter UVB radiation rays strike and cause damage.
Because the burning effects of UVB radiation are so immediate and visible, not to mention painful, sunscreen technologies that protect us from UVB radiation advanced significantly since the late 1970s and are quite effective at blocking these rays.
UV Radiation: UVA, The Aging Rays UVA radiation rays are commonly referred to as the "aging" rays (think A for "aging").
They are the long rays that penetrate deep into the dermis, causing tremendous damage over time.
They have the ability to destroy our collagen and elastin, causing wrinkles and sagging.
UVA radiation rays also stimulate pigment-producing melanocytes to release brown melanin, resulting in "liver spots" on the face, hands, and chest-a true hallmark of aged skin.
Persistant sun damage may eventually cause some of the pigment- producing cells to die, leaving white confetti-like spots technically known as guttate hypomelanosis on the skin.
UVA radiation rays further damage your RNA (ribonucleic acid), which is located in the cytoplasm of cells, and contains the instructions for all the chemical reactions within the cell.
This UVA radiation damage compromises your body's ability to repair to repair itself.
And most problematically, UVA radiation rays can mutate your DNA, eventually leading to skin cancer.
UV radiation is omnipresent.
It strikes the earth and youe skin from sunup to sundown, rain or shine.
January through December.
The rays are equally as strong at 7:00 a.
m.
as they are at noon and at 5:00 p.
m.
They are so powerful they can penetrate glass, some plastics, and clothing, especially loose cotton weaves and wet fabrics.
It can also deliver blistering sunburns, premature aging, and skin cancer.
In fact, during your lifetime, the sun showers literally tons of damaging photons onto your naked flesh.
The sun emits three kinds of ultraviolet light: long-wavelength UV radiation a light, medium-wavelength UVB radiation, and short-wavelength UVC radiation.
The shorter the wavelength, the stronger the light.
UVC radiation is absorbed by out atmosphere and never reaches the earth, which is a good thing because it has the strength to kill us instantly.
On the other hand, the longer the UV radiation rays do penetrate the atmosphere, and between the two they cause plenty of damage to our skin.
As the ozone layer gets thinner, penetration by all wavelengths of UV radiation rays increases, resulting in earlier and more aggressive skin damage.
UV Radiation: UVB, The Burning Rays We'll begin with UVB rays, which you are no doubt familiar with, as these are the UV radiation rays that cause painful and visible sunburns.
They're the ones your mother always warned you about because they're strongest between 10:00 a.
m.
and 2:00 p.
m.
during the summer months, when sunlight hits the earth more directly.
In the United States, the labeling of sunscreens, regulated by the FDA, is measured according to the SPF (sun protection factor) grading system for UV radiation protection.
The SPF number or UV radiation index refers to the product's ability to block out UVB radiation but does not pertain to the product's ability to block UV-A radiation.
Along with burning ( think B for "burn"), UVB radiation rays can also cause skin cancer.
The cancers associated with UVB radiation are most commonly the nonmelanoma types, basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas.
If you incur this burning you will need to have your skin treated for UV sterilization and UV irradiation.
These are the skin cancers that originate in the epidermis, the top layer of your skin, where the shorter UVB radiation rays strike and cause damage.
Because the burning effects of UVB radiation are so immediate and visible, not to mention painful, sunscreen technologies that protect us from UVB radiation advanced significantly since the late 1970s and are quite effective at blocking these rays.
UV Radiation: UVA, The Aging Rays UVA radiation rays are commonly referred to as the "aging" rays (think A for "aging").
They are the long rays that penetrate deep into the dermis, causing tremendous damage over time.
They have the ability to destroy our collagen and elastin, causing wrinkles and sagging.
UVA radiation rays also stimulate pigment-producing melanocytes to release brown melanin, resulting in "liver spots" on the face, hands, and chest-a true hallmark of aged skin.
Persistant sun damage may eventually cause some of the pigment- producing cells to die, leaving white confetti-like spots technically known as guttate hypomelanosis on the skin.
UVA radiation rays further damage your RNA (ribonucleic acid), which is located in the cytoplasm of cells, and contains the instructions for all the chemical reactions within the cell.
This UVA radiation damage compromises your body's ability to repair to repair itself.
And most problematically, UVA radiation rays can mutate your DNA, eventually leading to skin cancer.
UV radiation is omnipresent.
It strikes the earth and youe skin from sunup to sundown, rain or shine.
January through December.
The rays are equally as strong at 7:00 a.
m.
as they are at noon and at 5:00 p.
m.
They are so powerful they can penetrate glass, some plastics, and clothing, especially loose cotton weaves and wet fabrics.
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