A review of UV radiation protection on humans by textiles and clothing

Abstract

PurposeThis review deals with the pros and cons of ultraviolet (UV) radiation on human beings and the role of textile clothing and the chemicals used for textiles to protect from their harmful effects.Design/methodology/approachUV radiation (UVR) which has further divided into UVA, UVB, and UVC. Almost 100% of UVC and major portion of UVB are bounced back to stratosphere by ozone layer while UVA enters the earth atmosphere. Excessive exposure of solar or artificial UVR exhibit potential risks to human health. UVR is a major carcinogen and excessive exposure of solar radiation in sunlight can cause cancer in the lip, skin squamous cell, basal cell and cutaneous melanoma, particularly in people with the fair skin.FindingsThis article aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the harmful effects of UVR on human skin, factors affecting UV irradiance and factors affecting UV protection offered by textile clothing.Originality/valueEffect of fiber properties, yarn properties, fabric construction, fabric treatments and laundering has been reviewed along with the identification of gaps in the reported research. A comparison of inorganic and organic UV absorbers has also been given along with different testing and evaluation methods for UV protective clothing.

Photoprotection by clothing: A review

“…Dry fabrics provide more UPF protection compared with wet fabrics as the presence of water increases the penetration of UV rays. Loose fitting clothing has a higher photoprotective effect than tight clothing 74 . Laundering increases the UPF due to shrinkage in the fabric, making the fabric weave more dense 75…”

“…92 Organic compounds such as benzophenone derivative dyes, commonly used in sunscreens, increase UPF. 74,93 Adverse environmental and health impacts implicated in oxybenzone-based sunscreens, along with the potential of oxybenzone to be absorbed from clothing, could challenge the widespread adoption of benzophenone dyes to be used in UPF clothing production. 94,95 Given the potentially hazardous environmental impacts of synthetic and organic dyes, naturally occurring photoprotective agents such as plant extracts have been investigated for use in creating photoprotective clothing.…”

Modern Clothing Design Based on Human 3D Somatosensory Technology

“…The rerendering method only shows the rendering effect of the human body from different angles with the change of illumination and position and does not realize the three-dimensional reconstruction of the human body. Based on image modeling, the coordinates of the final 3D object are calculated from the correspondence between the extracted feature points [6]. This method requires small differences between pictures and high limitations.…”

Enhanced ultraviolet‐protectivetextiles based on reduced graphene oxide‐silver nanocomposites on polyethylene terephthalate usingultrasonic‐assisted in‐situthermal synthesis

“…The UV protection of PET fabrics is significantly increased by introduction of delustering agents such as titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) into the structure 2,18 . Variety of UV‐blocking and absorbing agents may be added in the PET fibers through melt spinning or finishing process to enhance the UV protection capability 19 . Nanostructures have been applied along with the UVR‐blockers on textiles to boost the UV protection properties and achieve other functionalities alike water and oil repellency, antibacterial, self‐cleaning, electro‐conductivity, flame retardant and, wrinkle resistance 1,9,10,14–16,20–23 ;.…”

“…2,18 Variety of UV-blocking and absorbing agents may be added in the PET fibers through melt spinning or finishing process to enhance the UV protection capability. 19 Nanostructures have been applied along with the UVR-blockers on textiles to boost the UV protection properties and achieve other functionalities alike water and oil repellency, antibacterial, self-cleaning, electro-conductivity, flame retardant and, wrinkle resistance 1,9,10,[14][15][16][20][21][22][23] ;. Based on the unique electronic, optical, thermal and, mechanical properties of the graphene and derivatives, they attracted the great attention as a building block of multifunctional and ultrastrong UV protection (UPF > +100) properties.…”