Quantitative evaluation of the personal erythemal ultraviolet exposure in a car.

Erythemal ultraviolet (UV)-radiation exposure to the right hand, mid-arm, shoulder, chin, nose and left and right sides of the face has been evaluated in a car from a large family class and a car from a small car class. In the small car, the site with highest exposure received 2.2 times more radiation than the site with the highest exposure in the larger car. In both cars, highest erythemal exposures were to the right shoulder, arm, and hand. Over a 6 h period, erythemal exposure to the right shoulder of a person in the driver's seat of the small car was 3.1 mJ x cm(-2).