Is the sun really to blame for this truck driver’s skin damage? - by Anna Marshall

Many articles show this photo of a truck driver’s wrinkled face to blame the sun for being toxic. That is not the case. I will elaborate below.

A chronic form of photochemical skin damage can be seen in truck drivers and those that sit behind glass windows. Window glass gives you a false sense of protection. Glass windows are highly transmissive for UVA radiation but filter out almost 100% of UVB and infrared. UVA induces sun wrinkles, skin aging, and skin cancer. This truck driver for many years had sunlight shining on his face and what came through the glass unhindered was 80% of the original intensity of UVA.

What helps our skin health and protects us against wrinkles is infrared. Tissue regeneration and repair is found in red and near infrared (NIR) wavelengths. Most people are ‘Mal-illuminated’ and deficient in red/NIR. Modern glass windows filter out infrared and as a consequence, skin aging is increased. Those inside of workspaces and in cars are not protected from sunlight by being behind window glass.

Improper light exposure / Mal-illumination not only affects the skin, but the retina as well. In acute doses, refined artificial blue light can lead to photochemical damage of the retina and in the long term can lead to age related macular degeneration.

You can clearly see from the spectrometer readings below (taken by “Blue Light Diet” author Bobby Hunt III) that:

1) Front windshield: UVA and UVB wavelengths are completely filtered, and red/IR are heavily filtered.

2) Side windshield: UVB is filtered completely but UVA still comes through, also notice that red/infrared wavelengths are heavily filtered. Red/IR light is crucial for skin health (see 7,000+ studies on pubmed for photobiomodulation.)

So, when this truck driver’s skin was exposed to decades of UVA light through his side window (without the healing benefits of red/IR light) this is what caused his wrinkles on that side of his face.

Notice in the pictures below that the thick red line at 400nm indicates where the UV range begins. (UVA is 315-400nm, UVB is 280-315nm)

Health Recommendations:
- At home, in your work environment, or when in a car, crack open a window to let the full spectrum of natural light shine in.
- Do not wear sunscreen, as sunscreen filters our UVB and not UVA. As a result, you end up staying out in the sun longer and do not notice the warning signal (like a slight erythema pinking of the skin) to go get some shade.

Main takeaways:
- The best day light is turned into crap light when it passes through a window because windows eliminate UVB and NIR, and only let in UVA, which is responsible for skin aging and skin cancer.
- Our body has been attuned to the unique distribution of solar radiation for millions of years. Picking/filtering out only part of the spectrum is dangerous.
- In nature we have the full spectrum. Whenever you remove parts of the full spectrum of natural sunlight, you are at a health risk.

Blog is from Anna Marshall, you can find her here
https://www.healthmarshall.com/
and on IG here https://www.instagram.com/health.marshall/