UVR investigation

A €3.5m (£3m) three-year European Commission grant has been awarded to scientists at King’s College London to investigate the effect of ultraviolet radiation (UVR) levels on human health.

The research, headed by Prof Antony Young of St John’s Institute of Dermatology at King's College London, involves eight research groups in six European countries: Austria, Denmark, Poland, Spain, Sweden and the UK.

The research team comprises an inter-disciplinary mix of photobiologists, dermatologists, immunologists, epidemiologists, molecular biologists, climatologists and experts in UVR measurement and radiative transfer modelling.

Most work on the effects of UVR on human health has been based on indirect estimates of UVR exposure, for example latitude or ambient UVR exposure, which results in a large measure of uncertainty. But no data has been previously collected that relates personal UVR exposure to damaged health.

A major part of the work will involve the measurement of personal UVR exposure using electronic UV sensors that will be incorporated into wristwatches.