Photo: New England Journal of Medicine

This picture is of a 69-year-old man whose left side makes him look 20 years older because of the deep wrinkles caused by long-term exposure to the sun. You see, this man was a truck driver for more than 25 years and spent countless hours a week with the sun beating down on just one side of his face.

This is what some speculate will be known as “driver’s face” and it’s the first of its kind to appear in a medical journal (this case was just published in the New England Journal of Medicine). Two doctors that treated the man at Northwester University of Chicago, say that the affected skin is a result of exposure to UVA rays, which penetrate skin more deeply than UVB and can go through glass.

To reduce the effects of UVA, experts advice drivers to use broad-spectrum sunscreen daily before the morning and afternoon commute. However, the amount of UVA that enters through a car’s window also depends on the tints. Honda, for example, uses green glass, which contains a light transmissivity of at least 75%, on sedan, windshields and front-row windows. For rear windows, Honda used gray glass which looks tinted and has a light transmissivity of only 20%.

Chuck Schifsky, spokesman for Honda, said, “As light transmissivity decreases, UV protection increase;” meaning that front-row passengers aren’t as protected as people in the back seat and need to remember the importance of applying sunscreen.

“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” –Benjamin Franklin

To read the article in MSNBC, click here, and to read the article on Kicking Tires, click here.