Scientific resources
Sunlight & health: scientific sources and research
A list of publications, reports, and knowledge bases referenced in our Blog on the impact of sunlight, UV radiation, and tanning on health and well-being
The goal of this section is to support users in accessing often lesser-known scientific materials. It serves as a point of reference for those who want to make informed decisions based on facts – not opinions.
2025 – Riedmann U., Pilz S., Weller R.B., Dibben C., de Gruijl F.R., et al. „Beneficial health effects of ultraviolet radiation: expert review and conference report”. Photochem Photobiol Sci 24, 867–893.
2025 – Beyond Vitamin D Production — How Sensible Sun Exposure Supports Overall Health, Joseph Mercola
2025 – GrassrootsHealth – Health-Promoting Reactions in the Body Triggered by Exposure to Full-Spectrum Sunlight
2025 – GrassrootsHealth / Interview with Dr. Michael Holick, 2022 and latter article in 2025: Beyond Vitamin D Production — How Sensible Sun Exposure Supports Overall Health, Joseph Mercola, March 2025
2025 – GrassrootsHealth / How Vitamin D Supports Stress Resilience and Mental Wellbeing.
2025 – Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Folic acid helps prevent some birth defects.
2025 – World Health Organisation. A.25 Sunscreen, broad-spectrum – prevention of skin cancer in people with albinism. WHO Expert Committee on Selection and Use of Essential Medicines.
2025 – GrassRootsHealth – Millions of Americans are Vitamin D Deficient – Who is Most at Risk?
2025 – GrassRootsHealth – Why Solar Geoengineering Raises Major Concerns
2025 – Stanford Medicine, Sunscreen fact and fiction: What the science says
2025 – CNN USA, Only one-quarter of sunscreens on store shelves are safe and effective, new report;
2024 – A critical look at the Endocrine Society’s 2024 clinical guidelines on „empirical vitamin D supplementation for disease prevention”,
dr hab. n. med. Paweł Płudowski, prof. IPCZD
2024 – Ekspert: ponad 90 proc. Polaków ma niedobory witaminy D (Expert: Over 90% of Poles with Vitamin D deficiency) – Joanna Morga, Nauka w Polsce, dr Paweł Płudowski – wypowiedzi w artykule, 2014.
2024 – Rivera-Paredez B, Hidalgo-Bravo A, López P, … Velázquez-Cruz R. (2024). Skin pigmentation–related gene variants influence serum 25(OH)D levels and vitamin D deficiency — evidence from a Mexican population study.
2024 – Liu F, et al. Skin colour: A window into human phenotypic evolution and environmental adaptation. Molecular Ecology, 33(4), 939–957.
2024 – The Guardian – Australia’s sun safety guidelines updated to take account of diverse skin types.
2024 – Ensembl Genome Browser, Human Gene Counts
2024 – National Centre for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), Human Genome Resources (2024)
2023 – Trovato B., Catalano D., Pace E., Mazzuca E., Bonfiglio C., Satta E., Paladino L., Mistretta A. Physical Activity, Sun Exposure, Vitamin D Intake and Perceived Stress in Italian Adults. Nutrients, 15(10), 2301.
2023 – Hazell, G., Khazova, M. & O’Mahoney, P. Low-dose daylight exposure induces nitric oxide release and maintains cell viability in vitro. Sci Rep 13, 16306.
2023 – Nurit Harel, Navit Ogen-Shtern, Leah Reshef i inni, Skin microbiome bacteria enriched following long sun exposure can reduce oxidative damage, Research in Microbiology – Volume 174, Issue 8, November–December 2023, 104138
2022 – Musazadeh V., Keramati M., Ghalichi F., Kavyani Z., Ghoreishi Z., et al. (2022). Vitamin D and depressive symptoms: Umbrella review of meta-analyses. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 157, 110885.
2021 – Harvard Health, The science of sunscreen;
2021 – Drissi M, Carr E, Housewright C. Sunscreen: a brief walk through history. Proc (Bayl Univ Med Cent). 2021 Sep
2020 – Okereke O.I., Reynolds C.F., Mischoulon D., Chang G., Vyas C.M., Cook N.R., Weinberg A., Buring J.E., Manson J.E. (2020). Effect of Long-term Vitamin D₃ Supplementation vs Placebo on Risk of Depression or Clinically Relevant Depressive Symptoms and on Change in Mood Scores: The VITAL-DEP Randomised Clinical Trial. JAMA, 324(5), 471–480.
2020 – GrassrootsHealth – The Top Vitamin D Myths: What’s Fact and What’s Not?
2019 – Scott Zimmerman and Russel J. Reiter, Melatonin and the Optics of the Human Body
2017 – Crawford NG, et al. Loci associated with skin pigmentation identified in African populations. Science, 358(6365), eaan8433.
2016 – The science of skin colour by Angela Koine Flynn, TED-Ed Animation
2015 – World Health Organisation. Guideline: Optimal serum and red blood cell folate concentrations in women of reproductive age for prevention of neural tube defects.
2015 – How We Get Our Skin Colour – Narrated by anthropologist Nina Jablonski | HHMI BioInteractive Video
2014 – Garcia-Borron JC, Abdel-Malek Z, Jiménez-Cervantes C. MC1R, the cAMP pathway, and the response to solar UV: extending the horizon beyond pigmentation. Photochemistry and Photobiology, 90(1), 10–20.
2014 – UVA Irradiation of Human Skin Vasodilates Arterial Vasculature and Lowers Blood Pressure Independently of Nitric Oxide Synthase
Liu, Donald et al., Journal of Investigative Dermatology, Volume 134, Issue 7, 1839 – 1846
2013 – Richard Weller: Could the sun be good for your heart? – YouTube, TEDx Glasgow, 2013
2013 – Anglin RES, Samaan Z, Walter SD, McDonald SD. Vitamin D deficiency and depression in adults: systematic review and meta-analysis. British Journal of Psychiatry. 2013;202(2):100-107.
2010 – Jablonski, N. G., & Chaplin, G. Human skin pigmentation as an adaptation to UV radiation. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 107(Suppl 2), 8962–8968.
2009 – Skin colour is an illusion by Nina Jablonski, TED Talk 2009
2009 – Sunscreen products – Regulations by European Commission
2008 – Blum M, Dolnikowski G, Seyoum E, Harris SS, Booth SL, Peterson J, Saltzman E, Dawson-Hughes B. Vitamin D(3) in fat tissue. Endocrine. Feb;33(1):90-4. doi: 10.1007/s12020-008-9051-4. Epub 2008 Mar 13. PMID: 18338271; PMCID: PMC2839878.
2006 – Commission Recommendation of 22 September 2006 on the efficacy of sunscreen products
2005 – Lamason RL, et al. SLC24A5, a putative cation exchanger, affects pigmentation in zebrafish and humans. Science, 310(5755), 1782–1786.
2005 – Zittermann A, Schleithoff SS, Koerfer R, Putting cardiovascular disease and vitamin D insufficiency into perspective. Br J Nutr 94:483–92
2004 – International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium. Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome. Nature, 431, 931–945.
2003 – What Controls Variation in Human Skin Colour? – Gregory S. Barsh, Published at PLOS Biology: October 13, 2003
2002 – Lambert G.W., Reid C., Kaye D.M., Jennings G.L., Esler M.D. Effect of sunlight and season on serotonin turnover in the brain. Lancet.
2000 – Lucock, M. Folic acid: nutritional biochemistry, molecular biology, and role in disease processes. Molecular Genetics and Metabolism, 71(1-2), 121–138.
2000 – Cottel D, Dallongeville J, Wagner A et al. The North-East-South gradient of coronary heart disease mortality and case fatality rates in France is consistent with a similar gradient in risk factor clusters. Eur J Epidemiol 16:317–22
2000 – Oberg AL, Ferguson JA, McIntyre LM et al. (2000) Incidence of stroke and season of the year: evidence of an association. Am J Epidemiol 152:558–64
2019 – ISO 24444:2019: Cosmetics – Sun protection test methods – In vivo determination of the sun protection factor (SPF)
1999 – Rosengren A, Stegmayr B, Johansson I et al. Coronary risk factors, diet and vitamins as possible explanatory factors of the Swedish north-south gradient in coronary disease: a comparison between two MONICA centres. J Intern Med 246:577–86
1998 – Law MR, Morris JK. Why is mortality higher in poorer areas and in more northern areas of England and Wales? J Epidemiol Community Health 52:344–52
1997 – WHO, Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs)
Rostand SG (1997) Ultraviolet light may contribute to geographic and racial blood pressure differences. Hypertension 30:150–6
1982 – Brennan PJ, Greenberg G, Miall WE et al. Seasonal variation in arterial blood pressure. Br Med J (Clin Res Ed) 285:919–23
European Sunlight Association (ESA):
ESA – European Sunlight Association: Position Paper „Reassessing the Role of Sunlight and Ultraviolet Radiation in Public Health”
Scientific Reference List (Lista publikacji naukowych), ESA, 2006-2015
Scientific Overview (Przegląd naukowy), ESA, 2019
GrassrootsHealth Nutrient Research Institute:
www.grassrootshealth.net