Pollution, poor lighting, unhealthy lifestyle choices, and environmental factors have direct effects on human skin, causing skin diseases and fueling problems and disorders in the population. The warning comes from the Italian Society of Environmental Medicine (SIMA), which highlights the importance of prevention.
The first enemy of the skin is air pollution: recent studies have shown that increases in exposure to fine particulate matter, especially that linked to vehicle traffic, correspond to an increase of up to 20% in facial pigment spots, particularly on the forehead and cheeks, as highlighted by SIMA.
Indoor PM2.5 has also been linked to more pronounced signs of pigmentation and wrinkles. Domestic use of solid fuels for cooking, moreover, increases the severity of facial wrinkles by about 5-8%. The negative effects are not limited to aesthetics and extend to skin diseases: for every 10 micrograms per cubic meter increase, literature analyses have found increases in health care visits for atopic dermatitis of 0.8% for PM10 and 2.9% for sulfur dioxide.
The “Sima Skin Health” Project
Daily habits also reflect on skin health: good-quality sleep is associated with roughly a 30% higher recovery of the skin barrier compared with non-restorative sleep, while physical activity programs have shown improvements in elasticity and skin structure as early as 16 weeks.
“The skin lives in the environment where the person lives. With the concept of environmental aesthetic medicine, we want to bring prevention into homes, at work, and in everyday spaces,” says Paolo Mezzana, head of the Department of Environmental Aesthetic Medicine at SIMA – “For this reason we launched the project “Sima Skin Health.””
It is a program of research, training, and prevention aimed at aesthetic physicians, healthcare workers, and professionals connected to the field, designed to integrate environmental prevention into professional practice and patient education.
The message is clear: skin health is protected beyond the medical office, and prevention must accompany people in homes, offices, enclosed spaces, and cities, considering air quality, light exposure, and other environmental factors that can alter the skin’s balance and contribute to its aging.
“Sima Skin Health translates this perspective into a multidisciplinary pathway to develop scientific knowledge, preventive guidance and tools applicable to professional practice,” concludes SIMA president Alessandro Miani.
The project will be coordinated by Elena Campione, associate professor of Dermatology and director of the School of Specialization in Dermatology and Venereology at the University of Rome Tor Vergata.
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