Measurements of Personal UV Exposure on Different Parts of the Body During Various Activities

Abstract

Within this study, the erythemal ultraviolet (UV) exposure received by different parts of the body during four different activities is determined. Optoelectronic devices were used to measure the erythemal UV exposure at 10 different positions of the body. The measuring devices were fixed on the forehead, on the shoulders, on the arms, on the chest, on the thighs and on the lower legs. The measurements were performed during the following activities of the test persons: walking, sitting, lying and sitting up. The measurements were performed on four clear sky days in the early afternoon at 1 s interval. One measurement sequence was taking 30-40 min. For the analysis of the measured UV exposures, the ambient UV is taken as a reference to remove the atmospheric fluctuations on the measured UV exposure. The strong dependence of the UV exposure on the activity and on the orientation of the test person is shown. Most of the body parts receive the highest exposure, when the test subject is sitting up or lying. The shoulders are most at risk when the test person is walking, whereas during the activities sitting up and lying the legs are most at risk.