• Question: Why do people get sun burnt is it because our skin cells are basically sizzling and burning up, or is it to do with irritation?

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      Asked by Lily Reigate to Alex, Anaïs, Peter, Shreesha on 18 Mar 2015.
      • Photo: Shreesha Bhat

        Shreesha Bhat answered on 18 Mar 2015:

        there is a pigment called melanin in the skin, dark skinned people have more melanin and light skinned people have less melanin. When skin is exposed to to sun (UV rays), our cells get damaged as the UV rays cause DNA damage, and the melanin pigment present in the skin tries to protect by absorbing the UV light. More melanin is produced by the body to protect the skin cells and as a result our skin turns darker. As a defence mechanism, the body also releases some chemicals which cause skin inflammation and you sense burning.

      • Photo: Peter Maskell

        Peter Maskell answered on 19 Mar 2015:

        UV radiation damages the DNA/RNA it is thought the damage to the RNA causes the inflammatory response and the sense of burning.

        http://health.ucsd.edu/news/releases/Pages/2012-07-09-sunburn-and-inflammation.aspx

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