Can Tinting Your Car, Home and Commercial Windows with Window Film Block UV Rays that May Cause Skin Cancer?

23 May Can Tinting Your Car, Home and Commercial Windows with Window Film Block UV Rays that May Cause Skin Cancer?

Woof woof! Howdy Sun Tint friends! Sammy here…

With summer right around the corner, our family (even us 4-legged kind) and friends are starting to spend more time outside, taking advantage of our beautiful Austin, Texas weather.  More and more this brings up information about how to protect yourself from harmful sun exposure.

Just this morning, my Mom saw a Fox Austin news report on a local Austin couple that, due to the risk of UV being related to skin cancer, has designed a line of children’s clothes that are affordable, light-weight and breathable yet block UV (www.littleleaves.com).  Sun exposure accumulates over a lifetime so, it’s important to prevent over exposure from the beginning of life. According to the interview, 1 in 5 people will develop skin cancer at sometime during their life.  They said, sunscreen gets broken down quickly by sweat & the sun so, it must be reapplied frequently.

There are 3 types of Ultraviolet (UV) radiation we get from the sun but only need be concerned with 2 of these: UVA (the aging rays) and UVB (the burning rays).  Up until a few years ago, it was generally thought that UVB rays were the primary cause of skin cancer but research has indicated that both of these types of rays can lead to skin cancer.  While there are many myths about the sun & how our skin is damaged from it, scores of organizations are working to properly educate people as well as teach us how to protect ourselves.  For example, some people may believe that UV rays cannot penetrate through glass.  Contrary to this idea, it’s been proven that most glass can effectively block UVB and even some car windshields are treated to block UVA. However, it’s important to know that our cars’ side windows & rear windshield do not block UVA. They allow plenty of UVA to penetrate through to the interior.  UVA rays make up more than 90% of the rays that hit our Earth’s surface… that’s enough to cause quite a lot of damage over time.

UV Rays penetrating Auto Windows

Research has shown that our skin can be damaged significantly by the sun through repeated exposure through windows in vehicles and in our offices.  For many years, dermatologists have documented that patients often have more sun damage on the left side of their face than on the right.  Research is revealing that this is due to UVA penetrating through the windows in our vehicles, cars & trucks.  UV exposure is cumulative as mentioned above, and all this damage provides the opportunity our skin cells need to develop into cancerous cells.

UV Damage to Left Face via Office Window

UV Damage to Left Face via Truck Window

Tinting glass with window film or tint can offer protection against UV rays.  Some window film products have even received a recommendation from The Skin Cancer Foundation (www.skincancer.org/products?SubCategoryId=18). Window film shields against UVA & UVB rays… it’s like sunscreen for your car. Even third parties are saying it’s a good idea to consider having a car with tinted windows to decrease your risk of sun damage.

Window film is Sunscreen for Your Windows

In a nutshell, while tinting your car, home or business windows won’t prevent a person from developing skin cancer, it certainly is a measure that’s been shown to block the sun’s damaging UV rays.  So, in our busy, fast-paced society where we spend so much time in our vehicles and people have plenty of other things they need to think about, why not go ahead and take advantage of getting window film?  Window tint doesn’t have to be applied every few hours like sunscreen.  Additionally, not only will it provide an added layer of protection for you, your children and loved ones, it has plenty of other benefits too like keeping you cooler, decreasing energy costs, reducing glare & hot spots, increasing privacy and giving glass added strength against breaking.

References:
http://www.myfoxaustin.com/video?clipId=10194083&autostart=true
http://frenchskincare.org/tag/sun-damage/
http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/10/living/guide-to-sun-safety/
http://www.skincancer.org/prevention/are-you-at-risk/sun-hazards-in-your-car
http://www.autowindowtinting.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=content.display&pageID=71
http://www.sungrubbies.com/product_index_html/UVASkinDamage.htm
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMicm1104059
http://www.skincancer.org/products?SubCategoryId=18
http://www.solargard.com/window-films/automotive