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UV Light Benefits for Health

For many decades, the myth that Ultra violet (UV) rays bring only harm to our health remained a strong belief held by people everywhere in the world. Recent scientific studies, however, demanded a change in this perspective. The benefits of UV light have a wide variety of applications- including health, beauty and sterilization. Although the idea sounds rather surprising, a good amount of clinical research backs up the claim that sun rays do some essential good.

  1. UV Light

    • The term UV light is derived from the location of the rays in the visible color spectrum given off by natural sunlight. Imagine a rainbow or how you see red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet in a prism. At the red part, infrared wavelengths are found. Then, at the violet part, ultraviolet rays exist. UV rays are further classified into three types: UV-A, UV-B, and UV-C. In trace amounts, humans benefit mostly from UV-A, a little from UV-B and none from UV-C.

    Aesthetic Benefits

    • UV light, specifically UV-A, give people that much desired tan. It also has the capacity to stimulate the production of vitamin D3, a compound known to bring the skin a healthy glow. Vitamin D3 facilitates the body’s absorption of calcium and other minerals from food. These rays enter the atmosphere in huge amounts, as the atmosphere does not have natural shields against them. UV-A rays are present even on cloudy days so if you think going out in winter cannot make you darker, you are definitely wrong.

    Health Benefits

    • UV-B has the ability to break cellular structure and eventually mutate it. Because of that property, UV-B is used in many hospitals to sterilize tools and equipment. In humans, UV-B has been proven to help treat certain diseases like tuberculosis and psoriasis. In 1903, a Nobel Price was awarded to Niels Finsen for treating skin lesions caused by tuberculosis with UV light. In a study conducted recently, it was discovered that 80 percent of people suffering from psoriasis improved after being exposed to UV light.

    Industrial Benefits

    • UV light is used as an active ingredient in pest control tools; it attracts the insects into the light where they are trapped. It is also used in authenticating important documents such as passports via the use of marks in it that can only be seen using UV light. UV radiation is also used in testing for insulation of electrical devices.

    Laboratory Uses

    • UV light is used in photolithography and in many genetics experiments with the use of green fluorescent protein, which is capable of absorbing UV rays and emitting at varying wavelengths. Lastly, it is also used in spectrophotometry, or the study of chemical structure of a sample by using light.

      Always remember its dangers as well. For instance, too much UV-A burns the skin, while too much of UV-B causes cellular mutations (cancers) in humans.

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