Dr. Martyn Poliakoff from the U.K.’s University of Nottingham travels to Australia’s famous Bondi Beach in Sydney and explains how applying sunscreen can prevent harmful ultra-violet (UV) rays from the sun burning our skin.
Donning a tie that exhibits the periodic table of elements, clip-on sunglasses, and laboratory attire, he talks chemistry in layman terms about the various mechanisms through which sunscreen protects us, the active ingredients responsible, and how sunscreen can be water resistant.
Our understanding of these protective mechanisms can better our appreciation of sunscreen’s role in preventing skin damage, and potentially cancer, and hopefully encourage people to apply sunscreen more often when going outdoors.
Our skin can feel the heat from infrared radiation and see the visible light from the sun, but we cannot detect UV radiation. This means we are not physically aware that our skin is getting damaged by the sun when out and about, but we may regret it later when our skin reddens and burns due to UV.
Australians are emphatic about sun-protection because the country experiences one of the highest UV radiation levels in the world as it is close to the equator and has many clear, blue-sky days.
Australia also travels closer to the sun than countries in the northern hemispheres in summertime, due to Earth’s orbit. UV radiation levels can be up to 10 times more in summer than winter, and you can be sunburnt in as little as 15 minutes on a fine January day.
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