The benefits and harms of sunburn
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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In the courtyard, summer, sun, and therefore it's time to talk about sunburn. After all, the sun's rays saturate our body with energy and extremely important for the health and beauty of vitamin D.
Tanned skin, of course, looks much more attractive than pale, however, in this case, beauty should not be sacrificed to health. After all, sunburn for our skin is stress, and with excessive exposure to ultraviolet radiation, it can cause significant harm to it, even to the extent that it provokes the development of skin cancer.
There is a common opinion that while we are under the sun, our body receives not only harmful ultraviolet radiation, but also harmless. This is far from the case. Let's talk in more detail about the types of ultraviolet rays, and at the same time about sunscreens, which to some extent can be used to protect against the negative effects of these rays.
It is known that there are three types of rays: UVC, UVA and UVB.
Let's start with UVC rays. As for their effect on our skin, we have nothing to worry about - these short waves, filtered out by the atmosphere, do not reach the surface of the Earth
The following are UVA rays. These rays, 95% of which reaches the Earth, are daily present in our life - from dawn to dusk, at any time of the year, in any weather and in any climatic zone of our planet. No less harmful to UVA rays for our health is also the fact that they are considered a source of free radical formation.
Now about protection from UVA-rays. Unfortunately, the main problem of the vast majority of modern sunscreens is that they have protection from only one type of rays. So, for protection from UVB-rays filters SPF are used.
In conclusion - about UVB-rays. 95% of these rays along the path to the Earth's surface are absorbed by the ozone layer and clouds - only 5 percent reach us. Thus, UVB rays harm not only our skin, but also the environment around us. The greatest activity of these rays is observed from 10 am to 4 pm. The consequences of prolonged exposure to UVB rays on our skin - sunburn, as well as the risks of abnormal mutations of cells, which can result in skin cancer. Sunscreens designed to protect against UVB rays have IPD and PPD filters.
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