A Driver's Risk of UV Exposure

Overview

Objectives/Goals The purpose of this experiment is to determine how drivers are exposed to UV light, and whether any characteristics of the vehicles can predict how much UV light they will be exposed to. Methods/Materials UV Meter, level, access to 50 cars and an iPhone. I took UV readings inside and outside the front windshield and drivers' side windows of vehicles, and calculated the amount of UV light passing through each window. I tracked make, model, year, price, and whether a car was new or used. Results I found that a much greater percentage of UV light is passing through the drivers' side windows than the front windshield. I also found that the amount of UV light that passed through the car windows was not correlated with a car's make, model, price, year, or whether the car was new or used. Conclusions/Discussion Based on the cars I tested, drivers are at risk of UV exposure through their side windows. This project points out that drivers should protect themselves while driving, either by using broad spectrum sunscreen, wearing protective clothing, or installing coating that filters UV light on their side and back windows. In addition, the project highlighted the difficulty of predicting UV exposure based on a car's characteristics. One unique finding was that in the cars I studied, the percentage of UV light passing through side windows actually increased from 2015 models to 2017 models. This particular finding was not shown in literature I read. This finding is important because with the ozone layer being degraded due to chemical pollution, UV rays will pose greater threats of skin damage, so the percentage of UV light passing through the windows should be decreasing rather than increasing.

Competition history

• CSEF 2017 Materials Science (Junior Division Only) · Entry J1413

Resources

• CSEF project summary ↗

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