Natural light brings many benefits to our health and wellbeing. It is a top source of Vitamin D, which helps our bodies absorb calcium for stronger, healthier bones. Unfortunately, the sunlight does also contain ultraviolet (UV) rays and repeated, unprotected exposure to these can cause skin damage, eye damage, and even skin cancer. We are all aware of the danger of UV rays when we go outside and the precautions we need to take, but have you ever considered the danger of UV rays pouring through the windows into your house? UV rays are not just a danger to you and your family, they also cause your furniture, interiors, and soft furnishings to fade too. So, do window shutters block UV rays? The answer is yes. Not only do our interior shutters physically block out and redirect UV rays, but the shutters themselves are protected against UV rays and discolouration during the manufacture process too.
What are UV rays and why are they harmful?
The sun radiates light towards the earth, and part of that light consists of invisible UV rays. When these rays reach the skin, they cause tanning, burning, and other skin damage. Sunlight contains three types of ultraviolet rays: UVA, UVB, and UVC.
Long term exposure to UVA rays causes skin ageing and contributes to skin cancer risks. Because UVA rays pass effortlessly through the ozone layer, they make up much of our sun exposure.
UVB rays are also dangerous, causing sunburn and eye damage. They also contribute to skin cancer. Melanoma, the most dangerous form of skin cancer, is associated with severe UVB sunburns that occur before the age of twenty. Most UVB rays are absorbed by the ozone layer, but enough still pass through to cause considerable damage.
UVC rays are the most dangerous, but fortunately these are blocked by the ozone layer and do not reach the earth.
How do plantation shutters protect against UV rays?
While window glass blocks UVB rays well, it doesn’t block UVA rays. According to the International Ultraviolet Association, standard window glass will allow almost all UVA rays to pass through while almost 100% of the UVB and UVC light is blocked. Therefore, UV light will still enter your home if you do not have a window dressing to shield the glass.
Our wide range of shutter styles and louvre sizes means you are able to block out as much sunlight as you need. Plus, shutter tilt rods allow you to adjust louvres to control how much light you have filtering into your space to perfect your preferred light level and direction. You can even have a tilt rod system that independently controls the top and bottom sections of the shutter. If it is optimum room darkening you are after, our room darkening shutters will provide the best room darkening achievable through a window dressing.
Simply put, our range of shutters will enable you to control how sunlight and, therefore, UV rays filter into your room to ensure the rays do not come into direct contact with you or your furniture. You can also block the rays out entirely, if required, by closing the louvres.
On top of that, our shutters are either painted using a cellulose-based paint or they are coated with polyurethane. This means our shutters have protection against UV rays and discolouration. The protection applied even works in deserts and in high humidity, so the British weather poses no problem for our shutters!
Remember, our shutters are ideal for keeping the heat and UV rays at bay during summer, but in the winter, they are equally capable of preventing heat loss.
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