Some info regarding some screen I found that might help:
FEATURE ARTICLE:
Protecting Your Skin from the Sun
Summertime is the perfect time to get outside and get fit. Swimming, biking, golfing, hiking: there are so many activities to enjoy. But all of them involve a certain danger too. The sun. Sun exposure accounts for 90% of skin cancers, the most common form of cancer in the country.
Who needs to wear sunscreen?
You do. Absolutely no one is safe from the damaging effects of the sun. Whether you’re fair with freckles or have deeply pigmented skin, whether you burn or you tan, you need to protect your skin. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), “any change in your natural skin color is a sign of skin damage.”1 Because when you’re sunbathing what you’re really doing is soaking up ultraviolet (UV) radiation, a carcinogen. And sun exposure, regardless of your skin type, also leads to premature aging and wrinkles.
Choosing a sunscreen
Supermarket shelves are lined with sunscreen options. How do you choose? Here are the five most important things to consider:
1. Toss last year’s bottle
Sunscreens have a fairly short shelf life because the ingredients break down over time and lose their effectiveness. Your best bet is to start out with a brand new bottle each summer. Also make sure the bottle you buy has a good expiration date.
2. Look for broad spectrum
Most popular sunscreens only protect against UVB rays, which are associated with sunburn and skin cancer. But the sun also emits UVA rays, which have been linked to wrinkles, sagging skin and also to skin cancer. A good product will protect against both, called “broad spectrum.”
3. Select the SPF
A sunscreen’s sun protective factor – or SPF - is a number that refers to the product’s ability to block UVB radiation. Choose one with at least SPF 15. But be aware that SPF 30 does not provide double the protection of SPF 15. SPF 30 blocks 97% of UVB rays, only 4% more than SPF 15 which blocks 93%. A good rule of thumb is to choose SPF 15 for regular daily activities (running errands) and an SPF of 30 or higher for times when you’ll be in the sun for extended periods (swimming, golfing, hiking, etc.).
4. Check the ingredients
The most important ingredients to look for on the label are titanium dioxide and zinc. These ingredients absorb, reflect and scatter the sun's rays before they go into your skin, keeping the damaging UVA and UVB rays at bay.
5. Choose a brand
A watchdog organization issued a report last month finding that 84% of sunscreens do not provide adequate protection from the sun.2 The Environmental Working Group (EWG) found that one in six products are safe and effective and out of 783 brands they tested they recommend only 128. These five top their "best" list:
Badger SPF 30
Peter Thomas Roth Titanium Dioxide Sunblock SPF 30
Lavera Sun Screen Neutral SPF 40
UV Natural Baby SPF30+ Broad Spectrum Sunscreen
Vanicream Sunscreen Sport SPF 35
See if your sunscreen made the grade. Visit the EWG’s website for a complete list at
http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/browse.ph...ns=1&best=1.
And here are a few other important things to consider before going out in the sun:
· Avoid sun exposure between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. when UV rays are strongest.
· Apply sunscreen 15 to 30 minutes before going into the sun to give it enough time to absorb into your skin.
· Reapply sunscreen every one to two hours – more often if you’re swimming or sweating.
· Whenever possible, seek shade. Wearing sunscreen helps to protect your skin from the sun but is by no means failsafe.
· A cloudy sky is no protection against UV radiation or sunburn. Apply sunscreen on overcast days as well.
By Laurel Hostetler
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