Skin cancer can be detected early using mobile phones. Though sun-cream and clothing help with prevention, the latter are often treated with potentially hazardous chemicals.
Enter a Finnish research team, which has spun a new yarn. They isolated fibres from a fast-growing species of willow by using sodium bicarbonate and mixed them with the same amount of cellulose.
Materials made from the yarn provided a UV protection factor of 140 along with strong antibacterial features.
This not only minimises the risk of skin cancer, but also the likelihood of unpleasant smells or stains.
Initial laundering tests have gone well; long-term use and industrial application are currently being explored.
Environmentally-friendly stretch jeans and natural dyes are already making fashion more sustainable.
