PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - Are pilots exposed to a lot of UV rays? What can you do?
Old 22nd Dec 2013, 13:07
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FullWings
 
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Tring, UK
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To answer the OP:

I've read contradicting things that the cockpits windshield blocks out most the UVA.
Yes. Some have thin films and/or absorbing material in the laminate somewhere. "Most" is a relative term - at 40,000', what is left after "most" has been filtered out can still be significant.

Premature aging / wrinkles and cancer are the biggest effects of UV.
Is a pilot badly exposed to this?
Is there anything that can help?
Do you do anything to help?
I wear sunblock on the flight deck, as I have found myself with the first symptoms of mild sunburn after a long daylight flight. I am sensitive in that respect, having virtually no natural pigmentation, so am a bit of a canary for UV exposure. Others may not notice anything at all.

I also avoid direct exposure (newspapers are good for this ). As someone pointed out earlier in the thread, the main problem is on the ground, especially at high altitude. For near-albinos like me, it's literally minutes before burning starts.

Here's a graph from NASA showing Ozone and UV levels in a representative atmospheric cross-section:



Note that in the 10-15km altitude range, where most jets operate, you are already above some of the ozone (which is why airliners have ozone converters) and are experiencing significantly higher levels of UV-a and UV-b.
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