• Question: When we're exposed to the sun, why do we go brown? Why not a different colour?

    Asked by cliffordhwh to David, Helen, Ian, rhysphillips, Sarah on 23 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Rhys Phillips

      Rhys Phillips answered on 20 Jun 2011:

      I think it’s because of the pigment in our skin that is activitated.

    • Photo: Sarah Cook

      Sarah Cook answered on 20 Jun 2011:

      When I go in the sun I go red as my skin has gotten burnt 🙁

    • Photo: Helen Fletcher

      Helen Fletcher answered on 22 Jun 2011:

      Everyone has special skin cells that produce a pigment called ‘melanin’, which is what gives your skin colour in the first place. When you’re exposed to sunlight, UV rays break down your DNA, and one of the pieces that breaks off stimulates melanin production. Melanin then helps to protect your skin from further UV rays by absorbing them and converting them to heat. This is why generally the more sunlight people are exposed to, the darker their skin. We go brown rather than any other colour simply because melanin itself is a browny-black chemical.

    • Photo: Ian van der Linde

      Ian van der Linde answered on 23 Jun 2011:

      It is because of the specific pigment in our skin (the others are right), but there is another answer. Your skin is evolved to go brown to protect it from future exposure to the sun, and brown must be a good colour for reflecting the most dangerous high-energy light – this explains why races who have developed in very hot countries tend to have darker, browner skin than those of us who’s ancestors lived in cold, rainy places like Essex.

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