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Mon Jun 21, 2010 7:58 pm  |
Protective Clothing for Sun Safety
By Leslie Baumann, M.D.
Jun 14, 2010
Sunscreen is one of your best allies in the fight against skin cancer and premature aging. But, let's face it, most of us have better things to do than reapply it every hour. It can feel sticky and uncomfortable, and if you spend a lot of time outdoors, the costs can really add up. Many of my patients are also concerned about a recent Environmental Working Group report that questioned the safety and efficacy of many sunscreens and are looking for other ways to stay safe in the sun.
Sun-protective clothing could be the answer!
The system used to measure sun-shielding effectiveness of clothing is called the UV Protection Factor (UPF). Specialized sun-protective clothing has a UPF of 50 or more, blocking out 97 percent of ultraviolet rays. Critically, sun-protective clothing guards your skin against both UVB rays, which cause sunburn, and UVA rays, which are mostly responsible for skin cancer and cosmetic damage.
Of course, most of us don't need to swaddle ourselves in high-tech clothing on a day-to-day basis. But for beach days or other times you know you're going to spend an extended period in the sun, I encourage you to give sun-protective clothing, hats and swimsuits try. Just remember that you still have to apply broad-spectrum sunscreen every 90 minutes to areas not covered by the clothes.
If you can't afford sun-protective clothes, even regular clothing can offer a UPF of 10 or more (equivalent to a sunscreen of about SPF 30). However, many shirts are only an SPF of 5! A good way to gauge the clothing's effectiveness at blocking the sun is to hold the fabric up to the light -- the more it blocks out, the more you'll be protected. Studies show that simply washing clothes can increase UPF by tightening the weave of the fabric, so be sure to opt for something freshly laundered. One day you may be able to further increase UPF by washing in a UV-absorbing detergent like Tinosorb, which is currently awaiting FDA approval. The safest bet is to buy clothing marked with a UPF of 50 or more.
http://health.yahoo.net/experts/skintype/protective-clothing-sun-safety
Woo hoo! I'm glad the FDA is looking into Tinosorb! The studies that I've seen have shown Tinosorb to be superior than other blocking agents. I'm not sure if there have been any studies on long term health effects from Tinosorb.
I also wanted to add if your looking for a good sun hat try TJ-Maxx or Marshall's. They have some really nice hats with wide brims. I've seen the in quite a few colors as well.
If your looking into investing into a great sun hat I would suggest this one:
http://www.sunprotectionhats.com/Physician-Endorsed-St-Tropez-Womens-Hat.html
I found this hat at Nordstrom's on sale for about $35.00 dollars. The hat is really roomy on the top. The brim on this hat is HUGE, 5 1/2 inches if you were walking around you would probably have to fold the brim up. It's my favorite hat because it protects so well!  |
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Tue Jun 22, 2010 5:05 am |
| Thanks for posting the great article on suncare! Nice website also! Love those hats. |
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Thu Jun 24, 2010 5:20 am |
I already use a laundry detergent, SunGuard, which uses Tinosorb to add SPF 30 to my clothes. I wonder if that's an old article, because I've been using the SunGuard for over a year.
https://sunguardsunprotection.com/how-it-works/info_5.html |
_________________
If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it? -Albert Einstein |
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Thu Jun 24, 2010 1:43 pm |
I never go out without my sunhat  It annoys my boyfriend but the weather in Chicago is so extreme (compared to London, where I lived 3 weeks ago).
Those hats on the website do look pretty nice.. I'm always on the lookout for less dorky ones. My one right now is purple  |
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