UV radiation protection by handheld umbrellas.

T he handheld umbrella (HU) is a commonly employed method of sun protection by women in many countries in Asia (45% in China) and the Middle East. In Turkey, hats and umbrellas were found to be the most common photoprotection accessories. The HU was standard outdoor attire for women of the 18th and 19th centuries in the United States. In the next century, sunscreen, hats, and sun-protective clothing supplanted HUs, but growing public awareness of the harmful effects of UV radiation (UVR) exposure may cause people to increasingly seek the protection of shade. Several companies market special sun HUs with a UV protection factor of 50 or higher. We wondered how effective average rain HUs are in blocking UVR and whether a commercially available sun HU would be more effective. The specific aim of our study was to determine the amount of UVR that penetrates HUs.