title: A comparative study of fabric protection against ultraviolet-induced erythema determined by spectrophotometric and human skin measurements.
abstract: Historically, a textile's ability to protect against ultraviolet radiation (UVR)-induced erythema has been based on its UVR transmission. However, due to the nonuniformity of the fabric structure of a textile and its resultant nonuniform transmission, the above prediction may not hold. The fabric protection factors (FPF) of 5 metal meshes, to simulate the weave pattern and yarn dimensions of typical fabrics, and 6 textiles with variable construction (woven and knitted), fibre type and dye were determined using a spectrophotometric assay and human skin testing. All 5 meshs and 5 of the 6 textiles allowed spectrophotometric prediction of their FPF compared with off-skin (2 mm) human testing. However, on-skin human testing FPF were generally significantly lower than both the off-skin and spectrophotometric estimates. Although evidence is presented that the nonuniform nature of a textile's structure does influence its FPF predictability, in practice, properly conducted spectrophotometric analysis may yield the most typical indication of the protectiveness of a fabric against UVR-induced erythema.
authors.affiliation: Dermatology Centre, Lidcombe Hospital, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: S W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Menzies
authors.forename: P B
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Lukins
authors.forename: G E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Greenoak
authors.forename: P J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Walker
authors.forename: M T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Pailthorpe
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.forename: S K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: David
authors.forename: K E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Georgouras
mesh_terms: D004890:Erythema / Q000209:etiology*; D005453:Fluorescence; D006801:Humans; D011481:Protective Clothing; D012867:Skin / Q000528:radiation effects*; D013053:Spectrophotometry / Q000379:methods; D013784:Textiles; D014466:Ultraviolet Rays / Q000009:adverse effects*