Sun protection
Sun protection describes the protection of people, animals, sensitive objects and rooms from excessive solar radiation and its undesirable side effects such as sunburn on human skin and the development of skin cancer . This article deals with the protection of the human body and especially the human skin.
An adequate dose of sun is required for the body to produce vitamin D3 . Sunlight has a depressive effect and supports the skin's self-healing process. In the recommendations of the professional associations, however, textile light protection through long clothing and headgear is recommended to protect against excessive UV exposure from sunlight. Sun protection preparations are recommended as a supplementary measure, but they must be applied in good time and should be waterproof if they come into contact with water. The German Cancer Aid and international health experts consider adequate sun protection to be essential in order to stop and avoid skin cancer. In view of the current 234,000 new skin cancer cases in the Federal Republic of Germany, this is essential. The number of diagnosed skin cancer cases in Germany has thus doubled in the last ten years (before 2013). The new cases are distributed among basal cell carcinoma 137,000, squamous cell carcinoma 70,000 and black skin cancer with around 28,000 people.
The internationally standardized UV index (UVI) is a measure of the solar irradiance that is effective for sunburn. It is used to assess the health risk and is associated with protection recommendations.
skin
The original sun protection of the skin of mammals is provided by the coat , especially a light coat color ; The human head hair forms the evolutionary sun protection for the skull most exposed to the sun. In addition to other functions, clothing provides civilizational sun protection for the rest of the human body.
The stated measures of sun protection aim to protect the skin from sunburn. This happens on the one hand by staying in the shade . The use of light sun canopies, sun protection sails and parasols is historical . Corresponding shading measures were developed for the technical area.
Protection of the skin from the risky direct sunlight, which can promote sunburn, premature aging and skin cancer, is possible with sunscreens. The current prevalence of skin cancer is explained by sunbathing and the depletion of the protective ozone layer . In children, painful sunburn can increase the risk of skin cancer by a factor of two to three. Direct solar radiation is particularly harmful for small children up to one year, as the skin's own protective mechanisms are not fully developed.
Sunlight is divided into visible light , infrared light and ultraviolet light . The ultraviolet light - differentiated into UV-A and UV-B - is decisive for tanning . The high-energy, short-wave UVB rays can cause sunburn and are the main cause of skin cancer. The longer-wave UVA rays cause a quick tan of short duration. They penetrate the skin, attack its elastic connective tissue and cause premature skin aging. Effective sun protection protects against both types of UV. Protection against the visible part of sunlight, especially against the high-energy blue-violet range around 400 nm, is necessary for certain genetic diseases such as porphyrias .
The sun protection factor depends on skin type , location and duration in the sun. The sun protection factor indicates how much longer you can stay in the sun with sun protection than with unprotected skin. This is measured for UVB rays, not UVA.
Sun protection in children
The skin of children and adolescents is particularly sensitive to UV rays. According to epidemiological studies, adolescents who were often exposed to the sun in their childhood and who suffered sunburns have a significantly higher risk of developing skin cancer later on, particularly malignant melanoma. The German Cancer Aid and the German Cancer Society have free information material on sun protection. This includes UV protection tips for babies and children, such as staying in the shade for the most part, clothing that covers the body over a large area and the use of sun creams with mineral filters.
dress
In addition to sun protection through natural shade, there are other protection options.
Textile material
Effective sun protection is also possible through clothing, with light, transparent fabrics often still allowing significant amounts of UV radiation to pass through. In Australia in particular , fabrics for clothing and swimwear were developed that offer high levels of sun protection while being comfortable to wear in summer. The UV standard 801, which was developed by the International Association for Applied UV Protection, identifies clothing and shading textiles with a protection factor which, like sun protection cream, states by which factor the skin's own protection time is extended. Typical usage conditions such as dry, wet, under tension, washed and others are taken into account.
Headgear
Headgear such as peaked caps and wide-brimmed hats serve on the one hand to protect the eyes from the brightness shining in from above and on the other hand to protect the head surface from heating up through direct sunlight.
Chemical sun protection
Structural and technical sun protection
Light filtering
In particular, the eyes should be protected from glare from sunlight; sunglasses are used for this . With extreme UV exposure such as B. in high mountains sunglasses with high UV filtering and very dark glasses are required. Snow blindness with the risk of permanent eye damage can be avoided by using glacier glasses.
One measure for sun protection on buildings is the use of windows with sun protection glass . Likewise, the glazing of modern motor vehicles is based on UV radiation protection by applying sun protection films to the car glass . This reduces the heating of the vehicle interior as well as the fading of objects in the interior.
Light protection is also often required for pharmaceutical products. In order to enable protection against UV radiation and visible light with high energy (blue), the use of light-blocking brown glass in the packaging of pharmaceutical products is common.
shielding
One of the simplest measures against overloading the skin with solar radiation is shielding. Portable canopies and umbrellas, as well as wide-brimmed hats, are an effective measure here. However, in shielding measures, there is often no complete shielding. With textiles in particular, part of the radiation is also let through.
In the building industry, sun protection is traditionally more important in hot regions, but today also in moderate latitudes when it comes to buildings with large glass surfaces, in order to avoid glare and overheating of the rooms. Furthermore, sun protection is important when planning outdoor facilities and open spaces as well as in gardens and landscaping.
Shielding in the outside area
In the outside area, shady elements offer sun protection. That could be as a shade trees as well as artificial awning , canopies , umbrellas, flying roofs , covered colonnades , porches and pergolas , and entwined pergolas and shady walls.
Shielding indoors
In architecture , suitable measures for indoor sun protection are divided into indoor and outdoor products. External products, such as B. external venetian blinds , roller shutters or awnings have the advantage of better thermal protection, with internal objects such. B. Venetian blinds , pleated blinds , roller blinds or panel curtains have a strong influence on the interior design. When the southern sun is high, protrusions are most efficient. Louvre roofs or walk-on gratings as Brise Soleil, fixed sun blockers invented by Le Corbusier - are also used. Inuits in the past, instead of modern sunglasses, used flat bones with a narrow viewing slit cut into them to reduce the amount of light as protection against snow blindness.
Material selection
Numerous industrial products, in particular paints and textiles, are exposed to fading, so that the use of products or materials is also determined by the degree of lightfastness .
To prevent products from fading, glasses such as B. amber glass can be used as packaging to absorb additional light. Examples of the use of amber glass for light absorption are glass dowels , beer bottles or pharmaceutical amber glass .
job profile
The sun protection technician in Austria and the roller shutter and sun protection mechatronic technician in Germany are specific apprenticeships.
Sun protection at work
Relevant solar exposure can occur during outdoor occupational activities . The dose of solar radiation depends, among other things, on the length of stay, the weather conditions, the geographical latitude , the altitude, the time of year and time of day. The health risk for skin and eyes increases with the strength and duration of UV radiation.
Damage from UV radiation usually only shows up years or decades after exposure to the sun. Even if there is no visible sunburn, the radiation can contribute to skin aging and above all increase the risk of skin cancer . A strong exposure to heat in sunny workplaces also puts a strain on the cardiovascular system and the water and electrolyte balance.
Suitable protective measures prevent damage to health from solar radiation. When determining these measures, their hierarchy - according to the TOP model - must be taken into account: Dangers must be combated at the source, technical and organizational measures ( relative prevention ) are to be preferred to behavior-related measures ( behavioral prevention ).
Technical measures for direct protection against solar radiation or reflections are z. B. Shades in the form of vehicle roofs / cabins, sun sails and canopies. As an organizational measure, work outdoors should, as far as possible, be postponed to times of less intense solar radiation (avoiding midday).
As personal sun protection measures z. B. Textile light protection through body-covering work clothing as well as headgear and neck protection. If sufficient protection cannot be achieved in this way, personal protective measures such as sunscreen or suitable sun protection glasses can be used to protect against glare and solar radiation.
Measures to protect against UV radiation or exposure to heat caused by the sun must be recorded in the risk assessment . So far, there are no special legal regulations or limit values for protection against natural UV radiation.
The specific solar exposure of different occupational groups can only be estimated with activity-related exposure data. Since 2014, a measurement campaign by the IFA has been generating data on the UV exposure of outdoor workers using a special measurement system. The system is programmed to automatically take readings during the relevant hours of the day. All test subjects can measure the radiation almost autonomously with the help of an electronic dosimeter worn on the left upper arm. For example, people working in road and sewer construction, bricklaying and roofing, steel construction, swimming pools, agriculture, gardening or shipping can experience greater stress.
International collaborations aim to obtain the most accurate information possible about UV radiation through standardized measurements. Measurements are also taken in other countries, including Colombia, South Africa, Australia, Macedonia and Croatia.
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ P. Elsner et al .: Daily light protection in the prevention of chronic UV damage to the skin. ( Memento from August 20, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Guideline of the German Society for Dermatology, 2005. ( PDF, 260 kB ).
- ↑ Current skin cancer statistics 2013, Deutsche Krebshilfe , Bonn, May 2013.
- ↑ Archive messages single view. In: www.krebshilfe.de. Retrieved February 3, 2016 .
- ↑ Eckhard Breitbart, Dermatological Prevention Working Group (ADP), May 14, 2013.
- ↑ Enjoy the sun safely, uvstandard801.com
- ^ German Social Accident Insurance (DGUV) and Social Insurance for Agriculture, Forestry and Horticulture (SVLFG): Prevention of damage to health through solar exposure. Position paper. (No longer available online.) April 2015, formerly in the original ; Retrieved July 18, 2017 . ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Institute for Occupational Safety and Health of the German Social Accident Insurance (IFA): GENESIS-UV. Retrieved July 18, 2015 .
- ^ Institute for Occupational Safety and Health of the German Social Accident Insurance (IFA): Annual Report 2018. Accessed on June 18, 2019 .
