Earlier this year, Findfiona, a Tiktok user, uploaded a travel video with serious attention with more than 2 million views and 1000 comments. In the record, she emphasized that it is important to wear sunscreens on flights, quoting reports of more sunscreen when they are at higher altitude.
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“Although you are inside the aircraft due to high altitude, you are actually experiencing a stronger UV radiation, especially if you are in the window seat,” she says in the video.
According to dermatologists, the claim is a claim is Partly correct, but it is also a bit wrong. “Good news is that the real risk of one flight or something that occasionally flies is probably small,” said Dr. Elizabeth Jones, Associate Professor of Dermatology, Philadelphia Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.
However, Jones noted that the risk of flight crew members and pilots is higher. “People who fly professionally will be much more exposed to ultraviolet light – especially if they are in the cabin – the size of the windshield,” she said all the time they spend at higher altitude, she said.
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Jones noted the 2015 A study showing that pilot and salon crew members are about twice as large as melanoma, less common but more serious skin cancer compared to the general population.
Thus, there is a connection between flying and sun damage. Below dermatologists explain what you should know about the risk of your solar damage when you are a cruise height.
Windows planes block most UVB rays, but not all UVA rays.
“The windows of the plane actually block most of the UVB rays,” said Jones, indicating rays that can cause sunburn and skin cancer. So, even if you sit by the window seat, you probably won’t stop Sunburn after the flight. But that does not mean that other damage cannot do.
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This is also true for Windows not AirPlane, said Dr. Jennifer Holman, a dermatologist with US dermatology partners in Tyler Texas. “The simplest windows at home or in the car are going to filter … For example, 97%, 98% UVB radiation, which is usually a wavelength that people think about it causes sunburn,” she said.
While Windows blocks these rays, they do not block Everything rays. According to Jones, the windows of the aircraft do not completely allow UVA rays, which can “cause premature aging, wrinkles and can eventually contribute to skin cancer.” (Jones noted that “some older Windows blocks about 50% UVA rays” and “some newer models are more effective even to block UVA.”)
Again, it crosses airplanes: Holman said most glass windows, including windows and windows of your car in your local cafĂ©, do not offer UVA protection. In general, “most of the glass does not shoot UVA,” she noted.
By wearing a sunscreen on the plane, you can protect against these harmful rays, which Holman said he’s penetrated into the skin and pose a risk of different types of skin cancer, including mortal skin cancer, melanoma. “
So who needs sunscreen cream on the plane?
Short Answer: Everyone.
It is important for people to wear every day, whether you are flying. “As a dermatologist, I, of course, encourage all my patients to wear sunscreen every day as a daily habit, only because of the exposition we face, and the free radicals in the world are from UV radiation,” Holman said.
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Although it is important that the airplane can be worn with sunscreen, Jones said certain people should be particularly careful.
“Who should consider wearing sunscreen on the plane?” she said. “Of course, someone with a personal or family skin cancer history may want to get that additional protection using sunscreen.”
People with fair skin are more sensitive to the sun should also take into account that additional protection. The same goes for people with health problems that cause them to be sensitive to the sun, and people who use drugs that increase solar sensitivity, Jones noted.
Holman said that when buying sunscreen, you should find one that is labeled with a “wide range”, which means it protects both UVA and UVB rays. This is always necessary, including an airplane when you are not protected from that UVA light.
In addition to the sun cream, the Holman emphasized that other protection is also beneficial. “The importance of physical protection is also to wear hats, sun protective clothes, sunglasses – all of these things are important because we protect ourselves from the effects of ultraviolet rays,” she said.
This article initially appeared in Huffpost.