Infrared radiation on our skin

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Gif_Radiación infrarroja en nuestra piel.gif

Greetings, my dear friends of this prestigious platform, as human beings we have always been aware of the capture of any knowledge generated from our environment in order to learn from it and to extend our longevity in such a complex but wonderful universe.

Introduction

Undoubtedly my dear readers, there are many learnings of each of the phenomena developed in our environment, among them we find of course essential phenomena such as movement, sound and light, and the latter belongs to the wonderful family of electromagnetic radiation, where we also find the infrared radiation with which we will be relating and highlighting in a general way its effect on our skin.

It is important to know that the electromagnetic spectrum has essential importance for all our activities, especially because it contains our spectral fraction of visible light to our eyes, and with it we can appreciate every body or object around us because these light rays carry the images to our ocular system until they reach our natural screen receiver of the same as the retina.

Now, in this opportunity we will talk in general about another spectral fraction belonging to the family of electromagnetic radiation such as infrared rays, and in particular its effect on our skin, then, we can begin by expressing that such radiation is imperceptible to our eyes and that in general we get it from our main source of energy such as the Sun, however, it is also possible to obtain it artificially, it is important that we can observe the following figure 1.

Figure_1.JPG

In the previous figure 1 you could observe the spectral fractions of both our white or visible light and the fraction of infrared light, both electromagnetic radiations, but one perceptible to our eyes and the other not, as is the infrared radiation, as for the latter we observe that it is subdivided into IR-A, IR-B and IR-C respectively.

Some effects of infrared rays on our skin

It is important to be able to express that by subjecting our skin to a prolonged action of this type of electromagnetic radiation such as infrared rays, in general, can cause lesions in our skin especially the spectral sub-fraction IR-A observed in the previous figure 1, and this is due to the generation of free radicals that affect the collagen of our skin, and as a consequence causes a premature aging of the same, then we can see how the sub-fraction IR-A manages to penetrate the deepest layer of our skin as is the hypodermis this is visualized in the following figure 2.

Figure_2.JPG

In the previous figure 2 we can see how this radiation penetrates to the hypodermis which generates a dry heat and because of this we do not feel this effect since the temperature of our epidermis does not increase, therefore, it is difficult to perceive this harmful action in our hypodermis, causing a very thin and dehydrated skin, among other harmful effects such as aging, as for the other two sub-fractions (IR-B and IR-C) are responsible for the heat we feel in our skin.

Conclusion

There are many lessons that we can learn from each of the phenomena that take place in our environment and here is an example of this, i.e. electromagnetic radiation, where we find our essential referential fraction such as white or visible light, ultraviolet light, microwaves, X-rays, radio waves, gamma rays and infrared radiation and of the latter we analyze in a general way its effect on our skin.

Therefore, my dear readers, it is always important to take into account the long prolongations of each of these radiations towards our body, as we have seen with infrared radiation and its sub-fraction IR-A, since it penetrates deep into our skin, such as the hypodermis, causing a dry heat of which we are not aware of the effect, and hence, the great danger of such action, therefore it is always necessary to protect ourselves from the long prolongations of such radiations and in this case of the IR-A radiation.

Note: All images are my own and were created using Power point and the animated gif was created using the PhotoScape application.

Bibliographic references consulted and recommended

[1]Infrared (IR) Spectroscopy

[2]EFECTOS DE LA RADIACIÓN IR SOBRE EL TEJIDO HUMANO



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3 comments
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What a great post @rbalzan79.
Even in countries where the sun is very strong as in the Caribbean countries specifically towards the coasts, this becomes a public health problem.

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