My neighbor, the dermatologist, says he thanks all the people who are stupid enough to not wear sunscreen as they will pay for this three daughter's colleges, post grad work and marriages. I think I'll unfortunately be one of his best clients.
Just my :2cents: - YMMV.
My wife and I are in our mid 40s - grew up swimming, beaching, tanning and burning in CA in the 1970s and 1980s, back when a little baby oil and some Coppertone was all there was. Remember the sunburns when you could peel of layers of burnt skin from your nose and shoulders?
In the late 1980s I had the pleasure of getting to know Dr. Derek Cripps, one of the leaders in the field of skin cancer research, and a major player in the creation of the SPF system. He put the fear of god into me about UV exposure.
Fast forward to 2008, and my wife - who is quite freckly to begin with - visited her dermatologist, to be told that she had a stage II/III melanoma. Depending on the amount of recession, etc it might have already spread through her lymph system - a sentinel node biopsy was required.
Without going into the gory details, you can imagine how a mother of three young children might have handled the news that she had melanoma, and what the survival rates are if it has metastasized.
If you're smart, you will do all you can to keep yourself - and your loved ones - from getting too much UV exposure. Shade, clothing and sunscreen are all part of this.
the nanoparticle issue hasn't been touched in this thread at all. i think it is clear that many people have a well rehearsed response to the sunscreen question... and thats fine, but chefster posed a question regarding specific ingredients in many sunscreen products.
www.consumersunion.org/.../006259.html
i was in a pharmacy recently looking for zinc oxide and kept getting directed to the wall of sun care products. many included "clear zinc and titanium dioxide" ..... yes nano particles (in order to render them clear. all i wanted was a tube of plain old zinc oxide. there are other carcinogens in many sunscreens .... oxybenzone en.wikipedia.org/.../Oxybenzone
(its possible to be anti-toxic compound without being pro-melanoma)
Geochuck.
you are lucky to be lucky.
I don't know anything about it but does it help to be "gradual" in ones exposure to UV or is it more an absolute exposure that counts (dependent on ones skin type etc)?
I always thought UV rays didn't know how quickly or slowly you absorbed them. I thought it was the amount, not the rate. Isn't it cumulative? I don't know.
All I know is America has nothing on Australia for skin cancer so Oz is probably the best place to look for guidance.
For at least 10 years school children in Australia haven't even been allowed out for recess without a very wide broad brimmed hat on. It'll be interesting to see the skin cancer rates for that generation compared to mine.
Now that I live in Chicago (negligable sun compared to Oz), I never let my kids outside without sunscreen. I hope it helps!
I personally use sunscreen all the time but already have so much damage from growing up on the beach in the 70's it's prbably a little too late...
And I'm not a big fan of skin cancer. To each his own.
Some studies are showing something like 1 in 30 are prone to the skin cancer that the sunblocks will prevents (not all melanoma is even blockable using lotions), while the other 29 of those 30 people are developing vitamin D deficiencies due to blocking the sun's rays, causing a range of problems from depression to earlier onset of osteopherosis.
While I don't suggest tanning or excessive pool/beach use without some kind of SPF lotion (or sunblock if you have risk factors for skin cancer), the recommendations by some to wear sunblock any time you are in the sun is turning out to be likely unhealthy for you.
Here are a few articles about this, I cannot find the original one that I read tho.
www.nst.com.my/.../Articlewww.vitamindcouncil.org/depression.shtml
