By HENRY FOUNTAIN
Published: October 19, 2009
It takes more than sunscreen to keep the sun’s ultraviolet rays from harming your skin. The type of clothing you wear can offer
protection, too — or not. Studies have shown that some lightweight fabrics do not provide enough UV protection.
But it is not just the type of fiber and the weave of the fabric that matters, but also the color. Ascención Riva of the Polytechnic
University of Catalonia and colleagues have addressed the color issue, studying the effects of different dyes on the UV
protection provided by lightweight woven cottons.
The researchers chose three fabrics, not dyed, with different initial levels of UV protection based on the weave and other factors.
Then they dyed them in varying shades of blue, red and yellow and measured how much UV radiation was absorbed and
transmitted.
They found that red and blue shades performed better than yellow, particularly in blocking UV-B rays, which are the most
harmful. Protection increased as the shades were made darker and more intense. And if the initial protection level of the fabric
was higher, the darker shades offered even greater improvement.
The researchers say the findings, reported in Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research, should help fabric and garment
manufacturers optimize their products for UV protection.
(Texto retirado de http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/20/science/20obsun.html?ref=science, em 26/10/2009).
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