I have a bit of a problem with the whole sunscreen push to begin with. It goes back to what UV radiation is in the sunlight and what that UV radiation does to you. To understand this issue, you need to see what each does There are 3 types of UV rays that come from our sun…UVA, UVB, and UVC. They differ by the wavelength of the energy. UVC has the smallest wavelength, UVB next smallest and UVA has the longest. The Earth’s atmosphere blocks out all of the UVC, some of the UVB and almost none of the UVA.
It was found that UVA is the energy that causes melanoma (skin cancer) and UVB that causes sun burns. But most sunscreens being sold 30 years ago only protected against UVB rays. Sun Protection Factors (SPF) are based on protection from UVB. So people were removing natures way of saying “Get out of the sun, stupid” and spending more time in the sun. What we saw was that the more sunscreen that was sold, the more instances of skin cancer showed up. So then the industry started addressing UVA rays. They would add ingredients to help block out UVA rays. But an interesting thing, to be able to claim this protection, they only have to prove the the new product protects against UVA to ⅓ of the SPF.
So we have a new product that protects against UVA and UVB. But you get 3x the protection against UVB (which doesn’t cause skin cancer) as UVA (which does cause skin cancer). So you are still spending more time in the sun because you are not burning and still soaking up more UVA rays in the process.
Your best courses of action, if you are wanting to go out into the sun and are worried about skin cancer are to:
1. Avoid Tanning Booths/Beds. Almost all UVA rays.
2. If you want to use a sunscreen, get one that has zinc oxide as an active ingredient. This will give you the best protection against all radiation.
3. Limit your time in the sun.
4. Bring some light, loose fitting clothes to help block the sun while you are out.
5. Be diligent about inspecting your body, looking for changes, strange new moles, unusual patches on your skin, etc.
6. Have a medical professional check out anything that looks suspicious.