Stay Sun Safe

With the current spell of hot, sunny weather we have been experiencing and record temperatures for October on Saturday at 28.8 degrees centigrade, I felt it was important to provide some useful information on best practice about sun safety.

The sun is a source of life, it promotes vitamin D formation in the body and gives us a sense of well being and that feel good factor. However, prolonged exposure to the sun can be dangerous due to the UV (ultraviolet) rays emitted. Studies by the world health organisation incidcate a threefold increase in skin disease caused by harmful UV radiation.

The suns rays are strongest between the hours of 11am - 3pm, when most of us are on our lunch break, including pupils at school. UV rays are invisible and cannot be felt on the skin, hence why we can get sunburnt on a cloudy, overcast day. They penetrate deeply into the skin's cells, causing changes that lead to sunburn, skin ageing, eye damage and skin cancer.

Skin is delicate and very easily damaged by the sun. Everyone, no matter whether you tan easily or not should be protected from the sun all year round, with young people, particularly children most at risk. Experts believe that sunburn during childhood can significantly increase the risk of skin cancer later on in life. Some say the chances of developing skin cancer are doubled by just one blistering sunburn by the age of 20.

Exerior blinds, in particular patio awnings, provide a great way to stay in the shade whilst still being able to enjoy the sunny weather and ambience of being outdoors. Typically featuring acrylic based fabrics they provide a UV barrier between the sun and our skin and therefore act in the same way as applying sun cream.

The UV protection offered by a blind material will depend on the material type, thickness, colour, weave and coating. A good quality fabric will usually offer a minimum UV protection factor (sun protection factor) of 40+. What this indicates is the extent to which the fabric will increase the natural protection time of human skin to direct sunlight. The natural protection time of human skin depends on skin type.

So for someone with light skin who is prone to burning and never really tans, their natural protection time exposed to the sun is around 5 minutes. Under a patio awning with a fabric that has a UV protection factor of 40, this will increase to 5 minutes x 40 = 200 minutes, so almost 3.5 hours. So as well as providing a decorative function, exterior blinds and awnings offer high levels of much needed UV protection. In fact, blind fabrics typically provide 2-3 times more sun protection than the minimum recommended amount by Cancer Research.

Remember, stay in the shade between the hours of 11am - 3pm. And if you can't find a decent awning to be under, a tree is a good alternative.