A REVIEW ON SUN-PROTECTIVE CLOTHING

Abstract

The sun is ultraviolet (UV) radiation source. Damage to skin cells from ultraviolet exposure can lead to the carcinogenic problem such as skin cancer. Clothes and protective agents in cosmetics could be supplied personal protection from UV radiations. The assessment of UV transmittance of clothing and the determination of the UV protection factor (UPF) is crucial for skin cancer. The pathogenesis of epithelial skin cancers causes effects in the human bodies such as squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and malignant melanoma (MM) could be prevented by suitable UV-protective clothing. UV protective clothes have some characteristic properties such as fiber type, yarn construction, fabric construction, fabric weight and thickness, coloring process, standards and presence of UV radiation absorbers. These parameters have a direct effect on the effectiveness of sun protection and consequently the risk of skin cancer. The increasing of skin cancer rates in past several decades has increased the interest sun-protective clothing. A lot of work has been done around the world on about sun-protective clothes. The aims of this review are to explain properties, standards, and applications of sun-protective clothes, change people's sun behavior and raise awareness for the use of adequate sun-protective clothing.

Keywords

• Ultraviolet (UV)
• Ultraviolet Protection Factor (UPF)
• Sunlight
• Absorber
• Spectophotometer