Yahoo listed this list of sunscreen myths, and I wonder how many of these are actually, I don’t know…correct.  Some seem a tad suspicious to me.

Sunscreen Myths - Busted!
Posted by Leslie Baumann, M.D.
on Thu, May 31, 2007, 2:09 pm PDT Post a Comment View all 130 Comments

Actually, I think a couple of things:

1.  How many years in the future will the FDA decide that using sunscreen (like asbestos, hormone replacement, and other kinds of medications both over the counter and prescribed) is really dangerous to your health and ban it.

2.  Perhaps the only way to avoid sun damage is to live in an underground cave.

You need some sun for vitamin D and to be healthy.  Being near any window to the side or skylights in direct sunlight does amplify the heat of it even if not the damaging rays.  That in itself can cook your brain or skin if it’s intense enough especially if there is no ventilation draft.  That’s why we keep windows down for pets and children if a car is stopped even for a few minutes.

I had skin cancer at age 22, and it was reccomended that I wear suncreen at all times outdoors.

I didn’t and still don’t.  It’s sticky and icky and when I sweat it got in my eyes (I wear contacts).  I figured (like Huli) that I’m skeptic enough to even wonder about the value of sunscreen, and sure enough

The parallel rise in skin cancer and sunscreen use has prompted chemists to reexamine the behavior of the products’ active ingredients.

Because sunscreens absorb light energy and must then release it in some form, they may deliver damaging ultraviolet (UV) radiation to sensitive cells. That raises the troubling, but unproved, possibility that sunscreens may have a hand in promoting skin damage. To learn more, chemists are testing sunscreens’ responses to UV light.

“Since [sunscreens] are so widely used, it is important to know as much as possible about them,” says John Knowland of the University of Oxford in England.

Surprisingly few reports on the chemistry of sunscreens have been published, says John M. Allen of Indiana State University in Terre Haute. So far, cosmetics companies have done most of the work, and they generally don’t make their results available.

“Sunscreens have—at least in theory—the potential to inflict damage. That is, of course, a far cry from saying that they actually do inflict this damage in humans,” says Knowland. Are they beneficial or harmful? Indeed, that’s the burning question researchers want to answer.

Source:  http://www.sciencenews.org/pages/sn_arc98/6_6_98/bob2.htm

I don’t wear foundation makeup either.  I think it causes wrinkles by denying the skin oxygen from the outside.

Well, I’ve known people who have gotten tanned and burned from their office windows when I worked on the 23rd floor of a skyscraper in NYC. I also had a friend get a very bad sunburn on one arm and his thigh (wearing shorts) from a 2 hour road trip out to the Hamptons one summer.

When I was little growing up in Florida, I got sunburn through my clothes more than once, so it can happen. It seemed to happen more often when said clothes were wet (like a t-shirt worn over a bathing suit).

I’ve always tried to remember sunscreen. I’m very fair-skinned, but unlike others of my ilk, I can actually tan quite well if I want to (prob cuz I’m mostly Italian/little bit of french descent). However, I do have moles, so I like to be careful.

I’m especially mindful of it now because my brother, a life-long sun worhipper, just died from malignant melanoma back in late march. My other brother has had two begign cancers removed from his face, my father had one (benign) taken off, and my uncle has had to have several removed. My younger brother and father play golf all the time and my uncle practically lives on his sailboat down in Miami and none of them were particularly fastidious about putting sunscreen on, so….

I have never, ever been burnt through clothes. I’ve seen people with horrific, near puce colour of sunburn that stops dead where the skin is milk white, protected by a t-shirt.

Renquist - 02 June 2007 09:25 PM

I have never, ever been burnt through clothes. I’ve seen people with horrific, near puce colour of sunburn that stops dead where the skin is milk white, protected by a t-shirt.

That milk white is a Scottish tan, as opposed to the usual splotchy blue.

Madmouse - 02 June 2007 09:36 PM

Renquist - 02 June 2007 09:25 PM

I have never, ever been burnt through clothes. I’ve seen people with horrific, near puce colour of sunburn that stops dead where the skin is milk white, protected by a t-shirt.

That milk white is a Scottish tan, as opposed to the usual splotchy blue.

Blue is sexy.

Farmers tan: paper white under the shirt, red where the shirt ends.  Hence the term redneck

I am an ex associate - 03 June 2007 01:50 AM

Farmers tan: paper white under the shirt, red where the shirt ends.  Hence the term redneck

Is THAT where that comes from?  🐛

Renquist - I’ve only seen people burn through clothes in places like Florida and the Carribean (Bahamas, etc), so I’m sure the strength of the sun has something to do with it. So does the fabric of the clothing. People who live in hot climates tend to wear lighter fabrics, many of them semi-sheer or sheer, or loose woven linens, so I’m sure that’s a factor as well. I’ve never burnt through a Hanes “beefy T” or anything like that, but I have gotten burnt through cover ups made of light sari type fabrics and the above mentioned loose woven linen.

Actually Florida and the Carribean are the only places I’ve ever gotten a sunburn. I’ve been on the beaches of Coney Island, Martha’s Vineyard, Cape Cod and the Hamptons and didn’t even get any colour while everyone around me turned pink. I think I’m so milk white I actually reflect the sun. 😉

However, I was burned within 10 minutes on the beach in the Bahamas while fully clothed at a seaside wedding in the middle of summer. I was wearing sunscreen at the time too. It bears noting that particular time I did not burn through the dress I was wearing, just my exposed bits.

I have been burned through wet clothes was well.  Maybe not to the same caliber of the exposed skin…but I was pink all the same.

I can add another myth to that list up there…Most of which I was familiar enough with to believe pretty much all of it.  They do sell some sort of film you can put on your windows to block out some of the UV rays.  It also helps prevent items from fading in the sun…versus no protection at all.

Anywho…as to the other myth…More SPF means MORE protection…like getting a 30 or 45 SPF.  In the US…NOT NEEDED!  I live in Florida & the most we need is 15.  TOPS.  Which means in other parts of the country where the sun isn’t so close so often…you could get away with 5, 8, or 10 SPF with no problem.  And just b/c it is more SPF doesn’t mean it lasts any longer.  So if you do get duped into buying a 45 or 50…you will still need to reapply it.

And don’t forget your lips…they can get sunburned, too!

If anyone is interested in the perfect sunburn cure from a true Floridian…I’ll tell ya.  Fill a spray bottle w/ vinegar (just regular white vinegar).  If you are sunburned after your visit out of doors…apply it as soon as you are back inside.  Yes, it will stink.  It will even sting for a few moments.  (We used to take care of that by standing in front of a fan.)  BUT…when you wake up the next day, your skin will be perfectly browned & will not be the least bit sensitive to touch.  Every trip we take to the beach, we bring the most important things you can have:  Beverages, sunscreen, baby powder, vinegar.

If your sunburn is on your face, I don’t reccommend spraying it.  A washcloth soaked in vinegar & then gently patted will do the trick.  You don’t want to get it in your eyes.

And in the news…

Docs Warn Sunworshippers to Protect Skin
Email this Story

Jun 1, 5:54 PM (ET)

By LINDA A. JOHNSON

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - Too much of a good thing can be painful, even deadly, when it comes to sunshine. So with summer just about in full swing, dermatologists and skin cancer researchers say people should limit their time in the sun and take other steps to protect themselves from the sun.

“Enjoy it, but enjoy it in moderation and with common sense,” said Dr. Warren Heymann, head of the division of dermatology at Cooper University Hospital in Camden.

With skin cancer on the rise, doctors have been issuing such warnings for years, but many people don’t heed them - or wrongly think slapping on a little sunscreen once before a full day at the beach or pool is all they need. That’s the biggest mistake people make, Heymann said.

“It’s not enough. If you’re going to be outside, try to stay out of the midday sun, stay in the shade, wear appropriate clothing,” use sunscreen and reapply it every two to three hours and after swimming or heavy sweating, Heymann said.

Appropriate clothing includes a hat that covers the scalp, long sleeves if it’s not too hot and fabrics that aren’t open-weaved or too thin.

A thin, white T-shirt allows the ultraviolet rays that cause skin cancer and sunburn to penetrate, so sunscreen should be applied underneath, said Dr. Jonathan Lee, a melanoma specialist at the Cancer Institute of New Jersey in New Brunswick, part of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.

People should also check sunscreen labels to see exactly what the product does; the SPF, or sun protection factor, listed on the bottle only refers to protection against ultraviolet B rays, which primarily cause sunburn. UVA rays penetrate the skin more deeply and are the main cause of skin cancer and premature aging, so sunscreens that provide broad UVA and UVB protection are best.

Older sunscreens block UVB rays well, but are less effective against UVA. Newer products do a better job against UVA rays but are much more expensive, Heymann said.

Products with the ingredients Helioplex or Mexoryl are “photo stable,” so they aren’t broken down quickly by UVA rays and work for a few hours. Chemical-free blockers containing titanium oxide or zinc oxide, which also protect well against both UVA and UVB rays, are a particularly good choice for anyone experiencing rashes from other sunscreens, Heymann added.

Lee said New Jersey has a high incidence of melanoma, which causes about 3 percent of skin cancer cases but roughly 80 percent of skin cancer deaths nationally. He’s not sure why it’s so common here, but noted that about 90 percent of skin cancer cases are directly related to sun exposure, with the rest related to genes.

“Some people are a lot more prone to developing skin cancer,” Lee said.

Those include fair-skinned people who burn rather than tan, people who have previously had melanoma or have a family history of it, and people with “atypical” moles: ones that are asymmetrical, have jagged borders or varying colors, and are about one-quarter inch in diameter or larger. Those moles and any showing signs of changes should be checked, because skin cancer usually is curable if treated early.

This year, the American Cancer Society estimates about 59,000 Americans will be diagnosed with melanoma, and about 8,110 will die of it. That’s up from about 48,250 new melanoma cases in 2002, when deaths were slightly higher at about 9,900, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In New Jersey, new melanoma cases rose by about 50 percent from 1999 through 2002, then dipped slightly in 2003, the latest year for which data are available.

Including less dangerous skin cancers such as basal cell and squamous cell carcinoma, there are more than 1 million new U.S. cases a year, almost as many as all other cancers combined, said Alan Conney, director of the Laboratory for Cancer Research at Rutgers University.

Reasons for the increase in cases include the thinning of the ozone layer, use of tanning salons and people going outside more - and wearing less clothing compared to decades ago when attire covered more skin, said Conney.

He’s been doing tests in mice on two substances that appear to prevent cells whose DNA has been damaged by ultraviolet light from turning cancerous. He’s about to start testing them in people to try to develop a protective cream or oral medicine, but that could be years away.