Euphorbia tirucalli: potential biological indicator of ultraviolet irradiation?

Ultraviolet radiation from sunlight is crucial for the synthesis of vitamin D in the skin and other physiological aspects of human life. However, when excessive, it causes a variety of damage, such as burns, changes in skin pigmentation, immunological alterations, and neoplasms. A series of structural changes in the epidermis, the dermal-epidermal junction, and the dermis are unique and exclusive characteristics of sun damage, such as aging, facial peeling, and hyperpigmentation of scars. The ozone layer that blocks the intensity of these rays, the only protection in the atmosphere against ultraviolet rays, is being destroyed daily by human activities. Therefore, such exposure to ultraviolet radiation without adequate protective equipment can be harmful to health. Changes induced by ultraviolet radiation can be mitigated or avoided by wearing appropriate clothing, using chemical barriers (such as photoimmunomodulatory plant filters) and/or physical-biological barriers (urban forestry), using photosensitizing medications with caution, and changing lifestyle habits. The objective of this article is to present the concept of the effect of plant reflectance on sunlight exposure, which potentially blocks the arrival of solar radiation and heat. We then apply this concept by suggesting that Euphorbia tirucalli, an ancient species resistant to environmental weathering, undergoes intense oxidation after micropropagation under white light combined with UV-A, resulting in the death of the explants. This action is feasible given the rapid and even unexpected transformations in the atmosphere, which simultaneously require simple, easy, and rapid local solutions to mitigate the problem triggered by both radiation from dust spread by explosives in war and the consequent progressive and intense thinning of the ozone layer.