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Photoprotection by Workwear: Ultraviolet Protection Factors for Artificial Radiation from Welding Arcs
Author(s) -
Bauer Stefan
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
photochemistry and photobiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.818
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1751-1097
pISSN - 0031-8655
DOI - 10.1111/php.13194
Subject(s) - welding , photoprotection , ultraviolet , work (physics) , transmittance , radiation , ultraviolet radiation , action (physics) , function (biology) , materials science , physics , optics , mechanical engineering , engineering , chemistry , composite material , biology , biochemistry , photosynthesis , quantum mechanics , radiochemistry , evolutionary biology
Photoprotection by clothing is one of the most effective protective measures against solar ultraviolet radiation (UVR), and the related concept of UV protection factors (UPF) for fabrics has proven itself for decades. Although immense work has been carried out regarding factors influencing textile sun protection, the idea of UPFs for artificial UVR, if necessary with different action spectra, is payed little attention. In this work, a modified UPF equation is proposed utilizing welding arcs and the ICNIRP action spectrum. These welding UPFs (wUPF) were calculated for some workwear as a function of welding power, technique and welded material. No wUPF welding power dependence existed. By means of normalized standard emission spectra, that were further clustered with regard to welding technique, it was found that the wUPF depends exclusively on the fabric’s transmittance and the ICNIRP weighting function yielding a reduced wUPF formula. Finally, a comparison of solar and welding UPFs, based on either their full or reduced equations, is discussed.