July is National UV Safety Month, and while glass windows can protect us from just about every element coming in, they unfortunately do very little to help us from ultraviolet rays. They can get into our homes and office buildings pretty easily.

Why is this worth thinking about? For several reasons, including…

Your health. As you probably know, ultraviolet rays are, to quote MedicineNet.com, “invisible rays that are part of the energy that comes from the sun, can burn the skin and cause skin cancer.”

Now, look, we don’t want to alarm anyone. If you’re going about your business in your house, you’re not going to develop skin cancer simply because you don’t have tinted windows.  That said, if you work out of your home, or you work in a commercial office building, and your desk is next to a window, and you’re next to a window, and you have the sun shining on you every day, yes, someday, you could have a problem.

In fact, the Skin Cancer Foundation on their website cites an article published in Clinical Interventions in Aging, which followed eight women and two men who had significantly more wrinkles and sagging skin on one side of the face even though they worked indoors. The sides of their faces with the wrinkles and sagging skin, however, were often facing a window.

Now, the good news, as the Skin Cancer Foundation points out, UVB rays are effectively blocked by glass. But at least 50 percent of UVA radiation can pass through windows (for car windows, it can be more than 60 percent). And the bad news is that both UVB and UVA rays can do enough damage coming through glass and reaching the skin to lead to skin cancer.

Your furniture and carpet. Another reason we think you should think about tinting your windows is that UV rays can also damage curtains, carpets and furniture. That may seem extreme, like something you don’t need to worry about, but if you’ve ever had a really nice rug in a living room, and you’ve noticed a corner of it faded from the sun coming through the window, then, well, you can see the problem.

Safety from break-in. According to the U.S. Department of Justice and numerous studies, burglaries most often happen in the daytime – when people are at work. Now, if you were a crook, would you rather sneak into the home with the windows that reveal an empty house and a nice TV, or the home with the tinted windows that you can’t sneak into? Sure, a burglar may smash the windows of both homes and climb right inside, but you’d have to think tinted windows would help a little more, and it certainly makes a home feel more private.

SmartView Window Solutions specializes in custom window tinting for commercial and residential buildings.  We offer a free in-home design consultation and, of course, professional, affordable installation.  As the heat of the summer peaks in July, the month is a good time to also remind people of the damages that come through exposure to harmful UV rays.  If you are thinking about getting added safety and protection for your home or office building, now is a great time to consult your local SmartView representative about professional window tinting.