A Study on the Effectiveness of Bamboo Blended Fabrics on UV Protection for Maternity Wear. Bamboo Blended Fabrics on UV Protection

Abstract: With the depletion of layer the earth become vulnerable for exposure of harmful UV radiations. The harmful UV rays reduce the effectiveness of folic acid supplementation by 20% with pregnant women. Hence, clothing with inherent property of UV protection is envisaged. In this paper, the UV protection characteristics of bamboo material blended with cotton, polyester and modal are investigated at three levels of fibre ratio. The test results showed that bamboo/modal blends are significantly better than bamboo/cotton and bamboo/polyester fabrics.

I. INTRODUCTION

The sunlight is important for life and is essential for health, as the human body needs it to form Vitamin-D, improve circulation of blood and resistance to various pathogens. At the same time, sunlight contains ultraviolet rays which pose a major risk potential for the skin. Due to the change in life style of people and spending of leisure time the chances for exposure in sunlight, has increased many fold. The risks posed by ultraviolet radiation have become more dangerous in recent years as the whole world is suffering from all kinds of pollution. Clothing has the ability to shield the skin from incident solar radiation due to its capability of reflection, absorption and scattering solar wavelengths. Sun emits ultraviolet radiation (UVR), which is a small part of electromagnetic spectrum. UVR is classified into UVA, UVB and UVC categories with wavelength range of 320-400 nm, 280-320 nm and 100-280 nm, respectively. Malik and Arora (1) showed how the UV radiation almost affects all living organisms on earth. Saravanan (2) made a detailed study on the effectiveness of textile materials for UV protection. Achwal (3) studied the mechanisms of textile materials for protection from harmful UV radiations. Adequate amount of UVR exposure helps in production of vitamin D3, but prolonged exposure to UV light is harmful and carcinogenic to humans [3-mantra]. About 130,000 melanoma skin cancer cases and 2 to 3 million humans are diagnosed for non-melanoma skin cancer every year [World Health Organisation, 2014].
Read More