The 3 Worst Reasons Not to Wear Sunscreen
Everyone from Fortune Magazine to your 80-year old aunt is giving out sunscreen and skincare advice. As you know, I'm a nut about studying this stuff, so I've pulled together the 3 worst sunscreen 'facts' that I've seen lately:
1. Fiction: "80% of a person's lifetime exposure is acquired before the age of 18".
Fact: This is statistically impossible and only true if everyone spent the rest of their lives living in a cave. Actually, only 23% of lifetime exposure occurs by age 18. (skincancer.org)
2. Fiction: "I only need to use sunscreen in the summer when I'm outside"
Fact: UVA rays (95% of rays) are present with relatively equal intensityduring all daylight hours throughout the year, and can penetrate glass. UVA rays are known to play a major role in wrinkling and can initiate skin cancers. (skincancer.org)
Read more: Understanding the Different Types of Sunscreen
Fact: UVB rays (5% of rays) are the ones that are most present between 10am and 4pm from April to October. UVB rays are the ones that cause burns and plays a key role in the development of skin cancer. (skincancer.org)
3. Fiction: "I can't use sunscreen I am vitamin D deficient."
Fact: Vitamin D is only produced from UVB rays. If you live north of Atlanta UVB rays are only effective in producing vitamin D in the summer time because that is when the rays can penetrate the atmosphere.
Fact: Experts suggest 10 min a day in the sun for vitamin D. That's it.
Fact: Take a vitamin supplement, add foods like salmon, cheese, fortified cereals and egg yolk to your diet. Subjecting yourself to radiation so you can get vitamin D doesn't make sense.
Read more: 9 Sun Protection Tips You Need to Know Right Now
There is one fact that is true -- like my personal favorite,
"90% of visible changes commonly attributed to aging are caused by the sun." (skincancer.org)