Pollution has become a constant in most of our cities, reaching and exceeding, according to the WHO, the limit established for health in almost the whole world. By pollution, we mean not only the microparticles present in the air but contamination of the environment by chemical, biological, and physical agents.

As you can imagine, pollution is extremely harmful to our health and causes many diseases, but it also affects our skin. The skin is affected by all the different types of pollution that we will see later.

The skin acts as a barrier through the stratum corneum, a barrier composed mainly of water and fat (sebum). Unfortunately, due to increasingly intense pollution, the skin is often unable to protect itself and therefore suffers numerous damages including, the most visible, premature aging.

The ph of the skin, together with the stratum corneum and the hydrolipidic film, is very important for the protection of the skin itself, but unfortunately, smog, fine dust, and pollution in closed places tend to modify the ph and increase sebaceous secretion, making it more alkaline and more prone to attacks by microorganisms and bacteria responsible for imperfections, acne, irritations, etc.,

How to protect your skin from pollution

We always talk about pollution and smog, but what are the substances that make it up called?

• Carbon monoxide,
• Ozone,
• sulfur oxide,
• Hydrocarbons
• pm10

They are among the main pollutants that are very harmful to our health and the skin that we find in external environments. The different pollutants interfere with each other, enhancing the deleterious effects on the skin: e.g. a smoker’s skin ages more prematurely and intensely if it is also exposed to the sun.

Damage to the skin can also be indirect when the dermis receives the polluting particles that we have inhaled or ingested through the blood. Research has found that pollution is a major factor in indoor air quality. But what is internal pollution?

Home and office air contamination often occurs through air conditioners, natural ventilation, infiltrations to which we can add: solid fuels, volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds such as fragrances, oil paints, and finally, very importantly, electromagnetic radiation from electronic devices, very numerous in all homes such as televisions, cell phones, monitors, etc: the famous blue radiation.

We have already clarified that pollution causes an acceleration of the skin aging process with the appearance of early wrinkles, and loss of tone and elasticity, but also a worsening of the irritation and imperfections of the skin.

This is because air pollutants manage to penetrate deeply into the tissues and our bodies, becoming very dangerous and releasing free radicals.

Free radicals are unstable molecules that can cause irritation and inflammation: in practice, air pollution comes into direct contact with epithelial cells, limiting oxygenation and damaging the production of elastin and collagen, which are the proteins essential for the structure and the compactness of the tissues.

The pollutants are deposited on the epidermis, forming a patina that clogs the pores, limiting the escape of sebum. Let’s not forget that there is also a sort of indirect pollution: just think of the food eaten, the way it is cooked, cigarette smoke, the location of our house, the materials used for the construction, the dust, etc.

Lastly, in external environments, the situation is made worse by ultraviolet rays which generate the so-called photo pollution, which in turn causes hyperpigmentation and a yellowish complexion, while internally, damage to the skin is amplified as previously mentioned by electromagnetic waves. The latter causes premature aging known as DIGITAL AGING.