Interviews
Scientists unravel impact of UV rays on coloured clothing
21 Oct '09
2 min read
In a study, which began in 2000, scientists in Spain have been able to unravel the mysteries of effects and impact of the sun's harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays on different colours of clothing we wear. According to them, the same cotton fabric dyed deep blue or red provides greater UV protection than shades of yellow.
Their study could lead to fabrics with better sun protection, which could also prove to be a boon for economy-minded consumers who want protection from the sun's harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays, but would not be willing to shell out high prices for sun-protective clothing.
The scientists used computers to derive results of the level of UV protection achieved with three fabric dyes and studied the change in UPF of fabrics and other factors, for which, they dyed cotton fabrics in a wide range of red, blue, and yellow shades and measured the ability of each colored sample to absorb UV light.
Fibre2fashion spoke to Ascensión Riva, one of the scientists, who said, “The paper deals with protection against ultraviolet radiation provided by clothing that we have been studying since 2000. The results found regarding the influence of colour are only a part of a bigger project in which we studied several parameters that could have an influence in UV protection.”
She added by saying, “We have proposed statistical models that can be used by the clothing manufacturers as an approximation to choose the value of different manufacturing parameters of the fabrics in order to produce protective clothing.”
She concluded by saying, “We think that the main practical value of the results for the manufacturers is that they can produce UV protective clothing, just by combining the compactness of the fabric with an enough intensity of colour in the dyeing process, which will help produce UV protective garments at competitive prices.
Their study could lead to fabrics with better sun protection, which could also prove to be a boon for economy-minded consumers who want protection from the sun's harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays, but would not be willing to shell out high prices for sun-protective clothing.
The scientists used computers to derive results of the level of UV protection achieved with three fabric dyes and studied the change in UPF of fabrics and other factors, for which, they dyed cotton fabrics in a wide range of red, blue, and yellow shades and measured the ability of each colored sample to absorb UV light.
Fibre2fashion spoke to Ascensión Riva, one of the scientists, who said, “The paper deals with protection against ultraviolet radiation provided by clothing that we have been studying since 2000. The results found regarding the influence of colour are only a part of a bigger project in which we studied several parameters that could have an influence in UV protection.”
She added by saying, “We have proposed statistical models that can be used by the clothing manufacturers as an approximation to choose the value of different manufacturing parameters of the fabrics in order to produce protective clothing.”
She concluded by saying, “We think that the main practical value of the results for the manufacturers is that they can produce UV protective clothing, just by combining the compactness of the fabric with an enough intensity of colour in the dyeing process, which will help produce UV protective garments at competitive prices.
Fibre2fashion News Desk - India
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