Solar protection in performance apparel

摘要

The attention paid to solar protection has dramatically increased in the last few decades because of increased awareness of the link between exposure to UV radiation and skin cancer.Skin tends to be damaged to a different extent from the UV rays portion of solar radiation during any sort of activity conducted outdoors. When skin is exposed to the sun, melanin production helps skin cells to minimise their damage, which is cumulative and causes skin ageing.Along with skin ageing, melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers have increasingly become a threat closely related to sun exposure. Along with sunscreen lotions and other means of photoprotection, garments can provide protection against UV radiation and can be designed to respond to specific needs of each activity. It is therefore not surprising that many researchers have become interested in the use of clothing as an effective means of solar protection, often focusing on the relationship between fabriccomponents and protection performances.