For decades, professional indoor tanning facilities have promoted sunburn prevention as a sensible approach for people who wish to incorporate moderate UV exposure into their lives in a non-burning fashion. That includes teaching the sensible use of sunscreen as a product to be used outdoors on occasions when sunburn would otherwise be possible.
[gap height=”15″]
And for decades, public health advocacy groups funded by the sunscreen industry have opposed our messaging – saying that sunscreen should, instead, be worn daily and year-round – even when it’s cloudy and your only steps outside in the sun are to and from your car before and after work.
[gap height=”15″]
[gap height=”15″]
Current research findings paint a sunny picture for those of us who, for decades, have promoted sunburn prevention instead of sun abstinence.
[gap height=”15″]
[gap height=”15″]
That approach is coming under fire – and from different directions.
[gap height=”15″]
- In May, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration published the results of a random controlled trial in the Journal of the American Medical Association confirming that the main chemical in sunscreen – oxybenzone – leeches into a user’s bloodstream at levels far greater than had been suspected. After one application, oxybenzone levels exceeded FDA’s targets, and regular use for several days lead to levels that were orders of magnitude too high, researchers said.
- In May, a University of Texas dermatology professor publicly challenged public health advisories asking black-skinned people to wear sunscreen, calling such thinking “nonsensical.” In an essay titled, “Sunscreen wouldn’t have saved Bob Marley from melanoma, and it won’t help other dark-skinned people,” Dr. Adewole Adamson, who is black, asked, “If sunscreen was important in the prevention of melanoma in dark-skinned patients, then why have we never heard of an epidemic of melanoma in sub-Saharan Africa, a region with intense sun, a lot of black people, and little sunscreen? …The public health messages promoted by many clinicians and public health groups regarding sunscreen recommendations for dark skin people is incongruent with the available evidence.”
- In January, Outside Magazine published a comprehensive article, “Is Sunscreen the New Margarine?” that straight-out called current advisories for sunscreen over-usage unhealthy and unscientific. “Avoidance of sun exposure is a risk factor similar in magnitude as smoking,” the author, Rowan Jacobson, wrote, pointing to piles of new data calling for re-evaluation of unnatural sun avoidance.
[gap height=”15″]
Jacobson paints an absurd picture about sunscreen use and sun-care policy. “Meanwhile, that big picture just keeps getting more interesting. Vitamin D now looks like the tip of the solar iceberg. Sunlight triggers the release of a number of other important compounds in the body, not only nitric oxide but also serotonin and endorphins. It reduces the risk of prostate, breast, colorectal, and pancreatic cancers. It improves circadian rhythms. It reduces inflammation and dampens autoimmune responses. It improves virtually every mental condition you can think of. And it’s free,” he wrote. “These seem like benefits everyone should be able to take advantage of. But not all people process sunlight the same way. And the current U.S. sun-exposure guidelines were written for the whitest people on earth.”
[gap height=”15″]
All of which paints a sunny picture for those of us who, for decades, have been promoting sunburn prevention instead of sun abstinence.
[gap height=”15″]
By Joseph Levy
Joseph Levy is Director of Scientific Affairs for the American Suntanning Association.
[gap height=”15″]
About the ASA
Founded in 2012, the American Suntanning Association is committed to defending and growing the industry through a detailed and proactive plan directed by an all-salon board and executed by more than two dozen management and consulting team members who specialize in this type of work.
