The solution to the hot summer sun? Wear more clothes. That’s right. We all know that you need to wear sunscreen to protect against harmful UV rays, but did you know that clothes can help protect against harmful radiation from the sun and decrease your chances of getting skin cancer? We agree that the last thing you want to do on a hot summer day is put on a hat and more clothes — but it may be worth it. Why? The National Cancer Institute estimates that there will be 1 million new cases of skin cancer among Americans in 2008. This is especially true if you are fair-skinned or Caucasian; the incidence of skin cancer among Caucasian Americans is as high as 33 percent.
Perhaps we can learn from cultures that have adapted to heat.
Consider the hats worn in China, the saris in India and the long, flowing robes of the Middle East. Exposing bare skin to the punishing rays of the sun is a very modern cultural phenomenon; artificially tanned skin became a status symbol in the West only in the last 100 years or so. And as our sun exposure has risen, so has the incidence of skin cancer.
So what are the basics of sun protective clothing? Here’s what you need to know:
• UPF is a rating that stands for ultraviolet protection factor; it tells you how protective the clothing is. For example, a UPF rating of 30 means that only 1/30th of the sun’s rays pass through the article of clothing.
• Dark-colored, heavier- weight and tighter-weaved clothing provides more protection against the sun. A simple test is to hold the cloth against the light. The more it lets light filter through, the weaker it will be in sun protection.
• The state of the clothing makes a difference in its ability to block UV radiation. The UPF drops if the article is too tight or stretched out, damp or wet, and if it has become worn out. A white T-shirt that has a UPF of 7 drops to a UPF of 3 when wet.
• Clothing is not considered sun-protective if it has a UPF less than 15.
And everything in excess of a UPF 50 is labeled 50-plus.
Clothing with a UPF greater than 40 is deemed to offer excellent sun protection.
• Certain fabrics provide better sun protection. These include dark denim, polyester, silk, tightly woven fabrics and unbleached cotton.
• It is very important to protect against sun exposure in children.
More information is available from the Cancer Information Service: cis.nci.nih.gov.
