Sunlight continues to damage skin hours after exposure

Sunlight continues to damage people's skin and increase the risk of cancer for hours after they leave the beach and head indoors, a study shows.

Scientists at Yale University, in the US, discovered it was the supposedly protective pigment melanin that was causing the damage.

The team say the findings may lead to better sunscreens that can prevent the extra damage.

British experts said that the findings "reinforce" current advice.

When UV radiation pummels our skin cells, it can cause mutations in the DNA.

Melanin, the pigment behind a tan or natural skin tone, is the body's defence as it absorbs the radiation.

What scientists did not know previously was what happens to all the energy that the melanin has absorbed.

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