Quantifying the hidden health risks of high reflectance UHIE mitigation approaches

Quantifying the hidden health risks of high reflectance UHIE mitigation approaches | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Quantifying the hidden health risks of high reflectance UHIE mitigation approaches Rui Bai, Marina Lopez-Arias, Husam H. Elgaali, Mirian Velay-Lizancos This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9456754/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Mitigating the urban heat island effect (UHIE) is a pressing need for sustainable urban design. A widely adopted strategy is to increase the solar reflectance (SR) of urban surfaces to limit solar heat gain. Recent advances have pushed SR to exceptionally high values. Still, these efforts are typically assessed using total SR alone, with little attention to how reflectance is redistributed across the solar spectrum, particularly in the ultraviolet (UV). Since UV radiation is a major environmental risk factor for skin cancer, this spectral shift introduced an overlooked health trade-off. Here, we unveiled and estimated the increased risk of skin cancer associated with high-SR UHIE mitigation materials. We quantified changes in erythemal weighted irradiance, annual erythemal radiant exposure, and skin cancer risk indicator to evaluate the impact of different UHIE mitigation strategies on skin cancer risk across locations. Our results identified pathways to mitigate UHIE while reducing skin cancer risk. Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9456754","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":625469936,"identity":"a2575012-4eeb-4856-8ce2-ff3b6f2b4d35","order_by":0,"name":"Rui Bai","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Purdue University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Rui","middleName":"","lastName":"Bai","suffix":""},{"id":625469937,"identity":"fc6d79d1-fec3-4f2d-834a-910c91ea63d7","order_by":1,"name":"Marina Lopez-Arias","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of California, Merced","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Marina","middleName":"","lastName":"Lopez-Arias","suffix":""},{"id":625469938,"identity":"50f42e05-6a01-4be0-9d27-c0d2684c273e","order_by":2,"name":"Husam H. 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