Disposable indicator card for personal monitoring of solar exposure

Abstract

Although the Earths atmosphere provides substantial reduction of the incident radiant power in the most harmful spectral ranges, excessive exposure of untrained and/or unprotected human skin to solar radiation can easily result into acute and chronic adverse effects onto human skin. In order to reduce these effects, a simple tool for monitoring the incident radiant dose is proposed. We report on the design, development, lab scale fabrication, calibration and the roll-to-roll printing production of a photosensitive indicator cards intended for personal monitoring of solar exposure to which the user has been subjected. Two types of cards are being discussed. The first one is supposed as high sensitive one with a dose response to 1 and 2 SEDs, the second one is a less sensitive with a dose response to 3 and 4 SEDs. The calibration of the cards was performed with polychromatic simulated solar radiation without determining the spectral response, therefore we refer to the device as indicator card, not dosimeters. Moreover, properties of the photosensitive formulation employed for the fabrication of the indicator are presented alongside with the calibration of the printed indicator to dermatologically relevant values of the received solar exposure dose. Special attention is also paid to the large-scale practical production of such indicators by the roll-to-roll printing technology. Mechanical properties, stability, durability, practical utilisation, and other features are critically assessed.