Many people underestimate or even know this danger to health by car. Fortunately, it is possible to protect yourself very easily.
By car, it’s not just accidents that are dangerous. Another often overlooked threat can put health in danger without realizing it: UVs. “But the windows prevent the sun’s rays from passing,” you may think. Think again!
Few know it, but there are two types of UV: UVA and UVB. These are those who cause sunburn. They can thus cause an aging of the skin, tasks and even cancers. These UVBs do not pass through the windows, it is moreover for this reason that we do not take an sunburn inside and therefore that we think ourselves protected … However, the danger is indeed present even behind a window.
Because if the windows prevent UVB from passing, this is not the case with the UVA. “They pass but we don’t feel them”specifies Dr Isabelle Gallay, dermatologist and vice-president of the National Union of Dermatologists-Venologists. Indeed, the UVAs do not cause sunburn since they “Go further in the skin”. However, “They will also be responsible for skin cancer. They are even more deleterious because we are not going to realize it “alerts the dermatologist.
These UVAs are also those used – at high doses – in tanning cabins, which are recognized to be carcinogenic. “We know that the exposure to the UVA is very harmful. If we are all the time behind windows, we will come prematurely our skin and we risk having carcinomas and melanomas”, The two main types of skin cancer.
So when the UV index is above 3, it is essential to protect yourself from the sun’s rays, even when you are not outside. By car, at work or at home near a window, by plane … “You have to protect yourself”insists Dr Gallay. For this, we put on covering clothes (and even a hat or a cap for example if you are in a car with a roof window) and on sunscreen. “It must protect against UVB and UVA. Now the majority of solar protectors have anti-UVA protection too”, Even if it is lower than against UVB. The dermatologist notably recommends mineral screens, which refer all solar rays. Of course, the same rules apply when exposed to the sun outside.
