Effect of UV-B ray on human health

UV-B, a subtype of ultraviolet rays, is the invisible ray comes from sun. The increasing incidence of UV-B has been a cause for concern as it put some harmful effects to our health, particularly increases chance of developing skin cancer.
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has forecasted that one percent depletion of ozone layer may increase skin cancer by two percent. UV-B can also potentiate the malignant melanomas (a type of skin cancer), which affect the pigment cells in the skin. These cancerous cells can spread throughout the body via blood and lymphatic system.
It is believed that the darker skinned individuals are less susceptible to UV-B radiation. However, dark skin does not completely protect against UV-B radiation, only dark skin requires a greater dosage of UV-B than white skin to trigger immune suppression.
In addition the increased UV-B radiation is also linked to elevated risk from diseases caused by the herpes viruses, contact dermatitis (skin inflammation) and toxic photodermatitis etc.

The writer is a Researcher, Department of Horticulture and Plant Breeding, Andong National University, South Korea. E-mail: [email protected]