Sun protection provided by ladies stockings

Bowen's disease, squamous and basal cell carcinoma, and malignant melanoma occur more frequently on the lower leg of women compared with men, presumably because of increased solar ultraviolet radiation (UVR) exposure as a consequence of dress. While it is apparent from simple observation that stockings are transparent to light, systematic data on UV transmission through stockings are lacking. The purpose of this study was to measure the spectral transmission of UVR through a range of thickness and colours of plain-knit ladies stockings, and to use these data to calculate the sun protection factor (SPF). We found that SPFs increased from about 1.5 to 3.0 for black stockings ranging from 10 to 40 denier; there were statistically significant differences in SPFs with colour (higher for darker colours) and site (higher at the distal calf than at the proximal calf); and for every colour and denier of stocking tested, UVA and UVB were absorbed equally. We conclude that the most popular type of stocking (15 denier) provides an SPF of less than 2, and that women who require photoprotection to the legs be advised to wear trousers or at least a 40 denier stocking.