New Sunscreen Regulations

General
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Yesterday KQED radio had a show on this, talking all about what the new regulations will be and recommendations on the best sunscreen. Here is the link to the podcast. (They usually stay up for a week, then are available as text)

I know that some of us are concerned this & avoiding skin cancer so I thought I’d post the link to the podcast or the show.
http://www.kqed.org/epArchive/R201007131000

From what I remember (all of it is in the podcast):
Your skin is affected by UV-A and UV-B. Both can give you cancer. UV-B will change the color of your skin and make you burn & SPF only tells you how well this is blocked. Many sunblocks on the market have little or no UV-A protection and there is no ranking system yet for how much is blocked. UV-A radiation has no visible effect on the skin (w/o sunscreen it would not be possible to stay in the sun long enough for it to be major a concern).

A SPF of 30 or more is recommended, anything over 50 they said is not worthwhile (50 SPF is 98% effective and 100 SPF is 99% effective, an insignificant difference). If you are concerned about UV-A get wide or full spectrum sunblock w/ the crucial ingredient(s) (I forget what the two are), but in the U.S. you can only get this in up to 15 SPF, so you may want to get it from Canada or Europe.

Covering up is also recommended. If you can see through the fabric then it doesn’t protect (ie. a straw hat). Not all clothing w/ the same translucency protects equally. Australia has a ranking system for some of their clothing.

The type of vitamin A that is often in sunblocks (again I forget the exact type) has shown to cause cancer in 20% of mice. (in mice, smoking was 300 times worse). This is not a large amount and there is no evidence yet if it causes problems in people. Of the two scientists one was not concerned at all and the other was moderately concerned.

They also said most people only put on 1/5th the sunscreen that they should, which is 1 oz. for the whole body.

All sunscreen blocks vitamin D so supplementation is recommended. Not all vit. D supplements are absorbable by the body, I can’t remember if they mentioned which ones are.

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Thanks Lewis for bringing up this important topic.

I’ve been researching sunblocks for many years now, and wear only the highest rated, best dermatologist-reviewed sunblock every single day, rain or shine. Plus, you have probably noticed that in my videos I am very well covered up clothing-wise, always wearing long sleeved shirts, sunglasses, (with 100% uv blocking) brimmed hat under my helmet, helmet drape, and so on.

Also, I almost never ride-or just be outside-between 10am-4pm, which are the times of day when the sun’s rays are at their most intense, and can do the most damage. Of course, the big exception would be my uni-century, and since it took all day, being in the sun was unavoidable. :o

Btw, uva rays cause premature wrinkling and aging of the skin over time, while too much uvb can result in sunburn. Of course, the most important reason to use sunscreen properly and regularly, is to prevent skin cancer! So cover up people! :slight_smile:

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If you want some thoroughly researched, clear and well written information regarding sunshine, vit. D, UV, Cancer, etc…

Suggested reading, The UV Advantage by Michael F. Holick, Professor of Dermatology (before he was fired from the dermatology dept. after writing this book) Medicine, Physiology and Biophysics, Boston University Medical Center and Mark Jenkins.