The Lowdown on Sunscreen
May 27, 2008 by Greg
I think sunscreen is snake oil. I have re-applied it and layered it, but somehow the sun finds it’s way through. Waterproof and long lasting products seem to have more marketing attached than actual worth. A little googling on the internet turned up some interesting facts.
- SPF is a number determining how long a person can be in the sun before getting a burn. Example: If a person would burn in 10 minutes, spf 8 would have the same effect in 80 minutes.
- Sunscreen in the US is typically labeled with SPF 30+ because the effects after SPF 30 are difficult to measure.
- SPF only measures UVB ray redenning effects. UVA rays are also harmful if not more so. There is no US standard to measure UVA blocking potential.
- The EPA has a website to forecast UV indexes found here. The UV index is an international standard measurement predicting how strong the UV sun radation is.
I know someone with a Kitchen Aide Mixer… It’s real nice.
You’re also supposed to apply sunscreen 30 minutes prior to actually going out in the sun. After all these years of going to the beach and slathering myself up moments before hittin the sand/waves/etc, I only read the label which indicated 30 mins this weekend.
I did not burn, but one of the shotguns I fired left a nasty dark purple bruise on the side of my stomach. Sunscreen does not prevent noob shotty mistakes, apparently