The 2012 edition of The Skin Cancer Foundation Journal features medically reviewed, reader-friendly articles such as tanning, the increasing incidence of skin cancer diagnoses among young women, & the prevalence of melanoma among white males over 50.
Issue link: https://skincancer.epubxp.com/i/65757
* Images supplied courtesy of Queensland Health 2010. compounds that strongly absorb UVR, especially UVA.1,2 UPF, a concept originally standardized in Australia in 1996, stands for ultraviolet protection factor, which quantifi es how effectively a piece of clothing shields against the sun. shirt is more protective than a pale one. But even a pale fabric can offer good protection if the weave, material, weight, etc. are effective at keeping out UV. And many white fabrics have "optical whitening agents," chemical UPF RATING Though loosely evaluating fabric content, color, weight and weave by eye are helpful at sizing up UV pro- tection, it is diffi cult to pinpoint just how protective a piece of clothing is simply by looking at it. Holding it up to the light helps show how much light passes through, but this isn't ideal, because the human eye sees visible light but not UV radiation.2 One solution is to choose garments with UPF labels. UPF, a concept originally standardized in Australia in 1996, stands for ultraviolet protection factor, which quantifi es how effectively a piece of clothing shields against the sun.4 The label means the fabric has been tested in a laboratory and consumers can be confi dent about the listed level of protection. It is based on the content, weight, color, and construction of the fabric, and indicates how much UV can penetrate the fabric. For instance, a shirt with a UPF of 50 allows just 1/50th of the sun's UV radiation to reach your skin. This would provide excellent sun protection, in contrast to a thin white cotton T-shirt, which has a UPF of about 5, which allows 1/5th of the sun's UV through — even more when wet. In studies done in Australia, Average UPF = 3 Average UPF = 9 Average UPF = 30 Average UPF = 60 Average UPF = 115 Figure 1: Five examples of real fabrics, all with different amounts of fi ber or yarn per unit of surface area and providing different amounts of sun protection. The higher the UPF (ultraviolet protection factor), the greater the protection. 71 Don't forget to reapply! Select wide-brimmed hats (at least 3" in diameter) that shade your face, neck and ears. Use UV-fi ltering sunglasses.