Ultraviolet radiation protective clothing

Abstract

The present invention relates to UV-resistant fabric, articles of clothing made from such fabric, and methods of making such fabric. The method includes 1) preparing an aqueous solution of anthraquinone (10) and NaOH (62), 2) immersing the fabric to be treated in the solution (64), 3) heating the solution/fabric mixture (66), 4) adding to the solution/fabric mixture an appropriate reducing agent (68), and 5) rinsing the fabric thus treated with hydrogen peroxide (70). White fabrics can be treated (72) with a conventional bleaching, or whitening, agent. Colored fabrics can contain, as an additional UV-absorbing compound, one of the class of compounds known as melanins, including those formed from the free radical polymerization of compounds derived from the precursor amino acid tyrosine (24), such as 5,6-dihydroxyindole (34).

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.