How UV Radiation Affects Your Skin
UV rays are bad for your skin.
You've probably heard that your whole life. UV rays cause damage and create risks. For many of us, the years of repetition have made us glaze over, maybe even skip the sun-protection routine... and it's a big problem.
Don't get us wrong, we love the sun!
It's essential for the plant-life on earth, plays a crucial role in many ecosystems, and even our own bodies (from sleep to seratonin levels) can benefit from natural light. But that doesn't mean we should not limit our exposure to UV radiation.
What most people DON'T realize is what actually happens to your body when it's exposed to UV radiation. In fact, the actual meanings of UVA, UVB, and SPF may even be unfamiliar.
So how does it all work? Here are the facts about sun exposure and protection; it may surprise you!
What are UVA and UVB?
Ultraviolet rays actually come in more than one form, and the different wavelengths will have different impacts on our health. The nature and effect of these wave lengths are as follows:
UVA: Ultraviolet A rays are longer, between 320 and 400 nm (nanometers) in length. UVA rays have a variety of health benefits, even helping to form Vitamin D in the skin. Without proper protection and moderation, however, UVA rays can cause sunburn and cataracts in your eyes.
UVA rays make up about 95% of the sunlight that makes it through the ozone layer, and its effect on your skin can often be seen immediately.
UVB: While only about 5% of the sunlight that passes through the ozone layer are categorized as UVB rays, they also have a far more concerning impact. These shorter rays have a length of only 290-320 nm, and can harm your body at a molecular level!
Your deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), the actual building blocks of your life and body's core functions, can be damaged by UVB rays. On the outside you may experience more severe sunburns (the kind that result in blistering), but it's internally that you're at the greatest risk. Fortunately, there are a few natural defenses in place. Internally your cells can develop special enzymes to try compensating for damaged DNA, and externally the ozone layer of our atmosphere also blocks most UVB from reaching you.
Still, overexposure to UVB rays can lead to cancer and the pre-mature aging of your skin. As you'll see in our next point, changes to our world have increased the UVB threat.
Rising Levels of UV Radiation
So what exactly is changing? The amount of ultraviolet (UV) radiation reaching Earth's surface has increased notably over the last three decades.
As we discussed in one of our earlier blogs, climate change is driving the increase in UVB exposure and consequently the rise in skin cancer (the global rate is increasing by 4%-5% annually). Here are the main reasons why.
Stratospheric ozone depletion: rising global temperatures are pushing moisture into the stratosphere, where it reacts chemically to reduce ozone density. This is weakening the ozone layer that protects us from UVB rays.
Air pollution: the pollution of our air can impact many aspects of our health, most commonly our respiratory systems, but can also harm skin cells and increase susceptibility to melanoma.
Warming: greater heat has also exhibited an effect on carcinogenesis, making UV rays more likely to form cancer/tumors.
Research conducted by Herman Goddard, and other findings by NASA, have found calculable correlations between changes in UV percentages and biological impacts. The study found that a 7% increase in UV exposure resulted in a 4.8% increase in DNA damage.
Health Effects of UV Radiation
There are a variety of health effects that can be caused by UV radiation. The likelihood of each potential harm increases as your UV exposure increases. Here are the most common risks:
Skin cancers: sun damage can put you at risk for numerous types of skin cancer. The most deadly is melanoma, which accounts for 75% of skin cancer deaths. Notable non-melanoma skin cancers include basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinomas.
Premature aging and other skin damage: it's common for the skin to become wrinkly, leathery, or rough when exposed to too much sun. Up to 90% of the aged appearance of skin can be blamed on prolonged exposure over many years.
Cataracts and other eye damage: sun exposure is harsh on sensitive organs like your eyes. Cataracts in particular, though treatable, blur the vision of millions of people every year.
Immune system suppression: heavy UV exposure can also weaken the body's immune system, especially by breaking down the skin's natural defenses.
These are all risks for everyone, no matter how healthy, if over-exposed to ultraviolet rays.
Protect Yourself while Affecting Change
Luckily, there ARE things that you can do to protect yourself, and to keep the earth stable.
At a micro level, you can make consistent smart choices about sun protection. While it may seem like an extra inconvenience to add to your daily routine, you can greatly reduce personal risk by consistently using sunscreen (and reapplying when needed!), wearing hats, limiting sun exposure, and using other measures when you're outside for a prolonged time.
On a macro level, you can affect change through lifestyle adjustments like supporting carbon-neutral businesses and initiatives, and through conscious consumerism. At Bee Wild, our mission is to bring conscious consumerism and sun protection together by creating a sunscreen that values both things. We do this by focusing on three components:
What's in it - we've worked on creating the best possible sun protection and SPF while avoiding ingredients that are harmful to you and the environment (coral reefs are particularly abused by the ingredients in many mainstream sunscreens).
How it's made - the manufacturing process, pollution, sourcing, and energy offsets all matter when producing sunscreen, and we're careful with each step. It takes greater effort to produce sunscreen this way (there are no short-cuts!), but we leave our planet un-scarred.
How it's packaged - the beauty industry is one of the greatest culprits in plastic waste (which does immeasurable harm to our oceans). That's why our packaging focus is on reusability. Recycling is a good first step, but reusable packaging is by far the most environmentally conscious packaging method.
