Ultraviolet Rays and Ozone

Some of my biggest fears I had while hiking in the Superstition Mountains for 7 days

were getting bit by a rattlesnake, falling off a cliff, and also how badly I might get sunburnt.

Luckily, I made it out with little to no sunburns, but I know that had I not protected myself

correctly I might not be able to say that. What are ultraviolet rays and why should you care what

they are? Ultraviolet rays affect you each and every day. Ultraviolet, or UV, rays play a vital role

in our everyday lives, and play an especially important role when spending extended time

outside. Learning more about what UV rays are and how they get into our atmosphere can help

us understand how to protect against harm that UV rays can inflict.

To begin, let’s define what UV rays are. UV rays are a part of the electromagnetic

spectrum, which also includes the distribution of electromagnetic radiation in the form of radio,

microwaves, infrared, visible light, x-rays, and gamma rays. Sunlight itself has a wide range of

frequencies including UV light. UV light is different than visible light because “bundles of UV

light contain more energy than visible light” (sciencing.com).

 The UV spectrum contains different sections, all of which emit light at different

wavelengths. Starting at 400 nanometers, UV-A extends down to 320 nanometers. Next is UV-B

which extends from 320-280 nanometers, and UV-C covers 280-100 nanometers. It is important

to remember that the lower the wavelength is, the higher the energy of the radiation will be. With

that being said, UV-C is the most harmful type of UV radiation, because it is the most energetic.

Through the process of ionization, the energy that UV rays carry ionizes and releases an electron

by getting absorbed by an atom or molecule (sciencing.com). When this happens, it is called

ionizing radiation, which when it reaches our bodies, can significantly damage the DNA cells in

our body (cancer.org). How do these UV rays get through our ozone layer to reach our DNA you

might ask? Good question.

“Without ozone, the Sun’s intense UV radiation would sterilize the Earth’s surface”

(NASA, sciencing.com). Earth’s ozone layer forms in the stratosphere from UV light colliding

with oxygen gas. The oxygen gas molecule cannot withstand the energy of the sunlight, so it
breaks into two oxygen atoms. The oxygen absorbs the short wavelength UV light, which we

previously learned is the most harmful, but there is still the longer wavelength UV light leftover.

The two free oxygen atoms then collide with other oxygen molecules forming ozone molecules,

which are made up of three oxygen atoms. This process is an exothermic reaction, which

converts UV rays to heat. Since much of the UV rays are used up during this whole process, few

are leftover to be able to reach the surface of Earth.

How does our location on the Earth affect the rate at which the Sun’s rays affect us? One

factor that affects how many rays hit our skin is how many objects get in the way of the rays. At

higher elevations, the UV rays come into contact with dust and other particles which scatters the

rays, resulting in fewer UV rays reaching lower elevations. Clouds offer some coverage for us,

since the clouds scatter, transmit and reflect the Sun’s rays (CPC). The higher in elevation you

are, the closer you are to the Sun’s more harmful UV-B rays. This makes it likely that your skin

will start burning sooner than if you were at a place of lower elevation (newswise.com).
 How can we use these UV rays to our advantage? Besides providing us with necessary

amounts of Vitamin D, the Sun can be used in a number of different ways. One way that is

popular with campers and travelers is using the ultraviolet radiation from the Sun to purify water

for cooking and drinking. We used this method a few times during our backpacking trip to

sterilize our water. This is done with a device called the SteriPen. The SteriPen works by

emitting UV light and transmitting it into the water. The UV light is harmful enough that it will

kill any bacteria or viruses that it comes into contact with. This happens because UV rays, UV-B

rays in particular, cause damage to the DNA of whatever it comes in contact with. When the

DNA absorbs the UV-B radiation, the shape of the DNA molecule becomes altered. The changes
made to the DNA result in protein-building enzymes in the cell being unable to “read” the DNA

code, causing either distorted proteins to be created, or the cell to die

(earthobservatory.nasa.gov).

If UV radiation can kill bacteria living in water, just imagine what it can do to our skin 😱.

Living in Arizona for 8 years has taught me the importance of using sunscreen and

protecting my skin from the Sun. I have experienced firsthand how unforgiving the sun can

be after receiving a pretty bad sunburn while hiking. Needless to say, I now remember to

put sunscreen on every single day, even if the skies are cloudy. SPF is a measure of how

long you can stay out in the Sun before you start to burn, “While an SPF of 2 will absorb 50%

of ultraviolet radiation, an SPF of 15 absorbs 93%, and an SPF of 34 absorbs 97%”

(melanomafoundation.org). So, an SPF of 15 essentially means that you can stay out in the Sun

15 times longer than if you weren’t wearing sunscreen.

Out of curiosity I wanted to see how the different SPFs in sunscreen actually affect

the amount of UV radiation that reaches your skin. This information would be useful to

know when purchasing sunscreen, and whether the SPF level on the bottle actually matters

when it comes to protection from the Sun. I hope to find that the higher the SPF, the better

the protection will be. To test this, I will use UV cards to first test the amount of Sun

reaching Tempe, Arizona at noon in late March. Then I will apply sunscreens with different

SPFs to Saran Wrap, and place that over the UV card. I will then wait the 10-20 seconds as

is recommended on the card and see what intensity level the card reads. Then I will quickly

put the sunscreen covered Saran Wrap back over the UV test card and wait until the

intensity level matches the original test, if it does not match it already. The intensity level of

UV radiation compared to the first level measured should be a good measure of how long it
would take for our skin to start seeing the effects of the Sun.

Experiment:

Date: 3/30/18 Time: 12:34pm Location: Latitude: N 33° 25' 29.8778"

Longitude: W 111° 56' 9.1329" (525 S Forest Ave. Tempe, AZ 85281)

Since SPF is how many times longer you are able to stay out in the Sun, I multiplied the

time it took to reach the highest UV without sunscreen by each of the different SPFs to see

how long it might take to reach the same level of UV, so

(20sec)(30spf)= 600 seconds or 10 minutes

(20sec)(50spf)= 1000 seconds or 16.6 minutes

(20sec)(70spf)= 1400 seconds or 23.3 minutes

Measurements:

0 SPF: After 20 seconds it measured High UV

SPF 30: After 20 seconds it measured Moderate, after 10 minutes measured Moderate

SPF 50: After 20 seconds it measured Low, after 16 minutes it measured Low

SPF 70: After 20 seconds it measured Low, after 23 minutes it measured Low

SPF Measurements
11

5 6 6 6 6

3 4 4 4 4

1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

-1 SPF 0 SPF 30 SPF 50 SPF 70

20 sec 10 min 16 min 23 min

Conclusion: Each SPF level protected against the Sun. None of them reached the same level

of UV as the control in the 30 minutes that I left them outside. An SPF of 50 and an SPF of

70 resulted in little difference in protection, as they both stayed at the same level for the

same amount of time. Certain limitations should be addressed pertaining to these findings.

Since Saran Wrap acts differently than skin and does not absorb sunscreen as quickly as

skin might, these findings might not be entirely the same as if it was tested using skin, or a
more skin-like material. Thus, using a variety of materials would significantly extend the

current findings. Overall, using sunscreen as recommended is an effective way to protect

against damage from the Sun.

Sources

https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/stratosphere/uv_index/uv_clouds.shtml

https://www.newswise.com/articles/altitude-increases-sunburn-risk

http://www.theozonehole.com/uvrays.htm

https://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancer-causes/radiation-exposure/uv-radiation/uv-radiation-what-

is-uv.html

https://www.windows2universe.org/?page=/earth/Atmosphere/layers_activity_print.html

https://www.skincancer.org/prevention/seal-of-recommendation/testing

https://sciencing.com/percent-uv-ozone-absorb-20509.html

https://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-uv-spectrum.htm#didyouknowout

https://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-uv-spectrum.htm
https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/features/UVB

https://www.myamf.org/prevention/facts.htm

https://www.edocamerica.com/health-tips/sunscreen-misconceptions/