Clothing best protection against harmful UV radiation

Protecting Health: The best protection against harmful UV rays is still skin-covering clothing.

(20.07.2010)The best protection against the sun's dangerous ultraviolet rays from the sun is still skin-covering clothing and staying in the shade. An air-permeable, white T-shirt leaves only a tenth of the UV radiation to the skin, as currently explained the German Cancer Aid and the Working Group Dermatological Prevention. A T-shirt has a so-called Ultraviolet Protection Factor (UPF) of 10.

Many people continue to argue that sunscreen provides adequate protection against UV rays. But that is not necessarily true. Because the UV-related gene damage begins much earlier than the sunburn, as Prof. Eckhard Breitbar of the Cancer Aid e.V. recently explained.

To protect the skin, it is best to use tightly-woven, darker cotton clothing - which even achieves a UPF value of more than 20. There are even special protective clothing that even achieves UPF values ​​of up to 80. Such clothes are now marked accordingly in the trade. Body parts that can not be covered with clothing should at least be creamed with sunscreen. It is advisable to use a sun protection factor of at least 20. With sunscreen, however, care should be taken to ensure that they do not contain any chemical fragrances as they can cause allergies. (Sb)

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