From the moment you walk out of your door to start your day, to the moment when your head hits the pillow and you close your eyes, your skin is exposed to various elements that deplete its natural vitamins and nutrients, impede it`s ability to repair itself, and aggravate the surface and subsurface cells. If we are more informed about the daily enemies of our skin and how to protect against them, we will be better equipped to prevent the sign of premature aging that can be a result of these environmental factors.

How Much Does Pollution Contribute to Aging and Damaged Skin?

Pollution not only contributes to the premature aging of our skin by rapidly depleting it`s natural resources at an alarming rate, it contributes to the sun`s ability to reach our skin and cause further damage. When you consider this two-folded type of attack, you can see that pollution has the ability to be more damaging to our skin than any other factor in our daily lives.

To illustrate just how harmful these environmental toxins are, we will consider a study conducted by the researchers at the University of California in Berkeley. This study, conducted on mice to access the amount of damage done by ozone to the skins natural resource of Vitamin E, had results that surprised even the researchers themselves. The study was conducted on hairless mice, a method that is commonly used because of the consensus that the results can fairly represent human skin, and showed that sources of Vitamin E in the thin surface layer of skin were depleted at a very alarming rate. After exposure to ozone levels double to that of those found in the busiest cities like L.A and Mexico City, the Vitamin E levels in this top layer of skin had been depleted by a whopping 25%. What exceeded researchers expectations was the amount of damage done in such a short period of time and even though the level of ozone was doubled in these studies, it still represents how much damage is done to the skin in just two short hours.

The two-fold part of this damage is that these environmental toxins break down the layer of atmosphere responsible for absorbing UVB rays, leaving our skin more vulnerable to the added damage of the sun.

It is estimated that for every 1% the ozone is depleted, a 2% increase in our UVB exposure results.

Protecting Your Skin From Environmental Toxins

As expected, the more urban of a setting you live in, the more damage you will experience.   The best advice is much the same as when fighting off other aging factors - to clean skin both morning and night to remove surface impurities from pollution, make sure your getting enough antioxidants, use a quality and hydrating moisturizer with sunscreen and drink plenty of water.

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