Soaking up the sun safely

https://www.consumerreports.or...MARY REICHARD, HOST: Today is Thursday, June 17th. This is WORLD Radio and thank you for turning to us to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Mary Reichard.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown. Coming next on The World and Everything in It: Sunscreen!

This weekend is the official start of summer. Which means you’ll be outside doing things in the blazing sun.

REICHARD: You know you need to protect your skin. But you go down the sunscreen aisle at the store, and there are so many options! So what to use? WORLD’s Paul Butler did some research and brings us this report.

CALVO: Sunscreen really does help protect your skin against the cumulative damage that can lead to sagging wrinkles, and even more importantly, skin cancer…

PAUL BUTLER, REPORTER: Tricia Calvo is the deputy editor of health and food at Consumer Reports...she covers sunscreen.

CALVO: Sunscreen is a product that you put onto your skin that's designed to block the harmful UVA...

That’s ultraviolet radiation A...it causes sunburns and aging skin.

CALVO: ...and UVB rays that the sun produces…

Ultraviolet radiation B—the more damaging UV radiation—leads to skin cancer.

CALVO: So you really do want to take measures to protect yourself against the sun's rays.

Just about everybody knows they should protect themselves, but have you seen how many sunscreen choices there are? And the labels aren’t a lot of help.

SOUND: ENTERING PHARMACY

I sent Josh Schumacher, our summer intern, into a big box store pharmacy earlier this week to try to pick out a bottle of sunscreen:

JOSH SCHUMACHER, INTERN: Hey ma’am, where do I find the sunscreen? [off mic: I think it’s all the way on the back wall.] All the way on the back wall? Ok, thank you.

The Food and Drug Administration regulates sunscreen and the terms on the labels—it’s considered an over-the-counter medication.

JOSH SCHUMACHER: Ah, sunscreen. Ok, we’ve got 60 SPF. 30 SPF. 100 SPF! Whatever that means...

When it comes to packaging, there are a lot of terms. Let’s start with SPF. Again, Tricia Calvo.

CALVO: So SPF, stands for sun protection factor, that's a term that has a specific meaning and some standards behind it.

CALVO: Theoretically, it's a measure of how long a sunscreen will protect you in the sun compared to how long it would take for you to burn.

SPF is a measure of how well a product blocks UVB rays with its shorter wavelengths and higher energy levels. According to the Food and Drug Administration: SPF is not directly related to the amount of time you can be exposed to the sun, but rather the intensity of the solar exposure.

CALVO: SPF 30 will will shield you from about 97% of the sun's UVB rays. And as you go higher, you get an incremental, an incremental percentage more of blocking of the sun's rays…

But SPF is just the beginning…there are a lot of other terms and marketing slogans.

SCHUMACHER: Water and sun protection. Light weight. Fast drying. Clinically proven. Suitable for sensitive skin. Protects against 99 percent of burning waves...

Consumer Report’s Tricia Calvo says you really only need to look for two additional meaningful terms:

CALVO: Broad spectrum.

“Broad spectrum” is simply sunscreen that protects against both UVA and UVB radiation.

CALVO: Water resistant.

“Water resistant” indicates that it remains effective for a short period of time while swimming or sweating—usually 40 or 80 minutes. Notice, it’s not the same as waterproof.

CALVO: Waterproof actually is a term that the FDA banned many years ago because it was giving people a misconception that you could put it on and it would stay on no matter how long you were in the water.

But no sunscreen is waterproof.

CALVO: It's really important to reapply that sunscreen as soon as you dry off. Because the friction from the water, the friction from your clothing, and your toweling off is going to start to have that sunscreen dissipate from your skin.

Sunscreens come in two main categories: chemical and mineral.

CALVO: Chemical sunscreens are the ones that contain active ingredients like avobenzone and oxy bands…

Chemical sunscreens create a fine film that absorbs the heat from the sun’s rays, mimicking the Ozone Layer. On the other hand—and arm—mineral sunscreen sits on the surface of your skin and deflects the sun’s rays.

CALVO: So they both are protective, but they protect in different ways.

Over the years, Consumer Report tests consistently find that mineral sun screens aren’t as effective as chemical ones. But many islands like Hawaii and U.S. territories like St. Croix have outlawed chemical sunscreens with oxybenzone or octinoxate. So mineral products are growing in popularity.

Regardless of which you choose, Tricia Calvo says most people don’t use enough of either product.

CALVO: I think a lot of people don't realize just how much sunscreen it really takes to cover your whole body…

She says it takes a little less than a quarter cup if you’re in a swimsuit. Or...

CALVO: ...you need at least a teaspoon on different body parts. So a teaspoon for your arms, a teaspoon for your face and your neck and your ears, a teaspoon for your chest…

If you’re concerned about covering your body with chemicals, or your skin is sensitive to some of the mineral products, you can still go out in the sun safely.

CALVO: The other thing that you can do is really be very, very diligent about covering up in other ways—sit under an umbrella, wear a rash guard, make sure that you're covering up your skin with a physical blocker of material.

Like wearing a hat, or a long sleeve shirt. And if possible, don’t go out when the sun is strongest—usually between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. for most of the country.

CALVO: And these are things that you should do, even if you are wearing sunscreen.

AUDIO: PHARMACY SOUNDS

Back in the sunscreen aisle...

PAUL BUTLER: [OFF MIC] How in the world would you make up your mind which of these you need?

JOSH SCHUMACHER: Oh, I don't know. Probably take into account what's cheapest and then probably. I'm ashamed to admit it. You know, how does the product look? Probably go with something like this. Just because this brand looks like it knows what it's doing.

Well, turns out, Josh isn’t that far off.

CALVO: You don't have to spend a fortune to get a good sunscreen. In CR's tests over the years we haven't seen any clear relation between price and performance. Don't let the marketing hype sway you—when it comes to effectiveness, all sunscreens are held to the same standards. But if the scent, the packaging, or even the name makes you want to use it, that's great because the best sunscreen is one you'll actually use.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Paul Butler with Josh Schumacher in Princeton, Illinois.

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