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Screened from the Sun or from Your Choice

© Adelle Vancil Tilton

I remember, which will betray my age, a time when lying out in the sun and getting as deep of a tan as possible was the fashion. The darker the better and then of course, the wearing of fashionable white shorts to really set that tan off for all to see, was the typical scene in summer. I guess I was lucky. First of all, I couldn't deal with the direct heat of the sun for too long at a time. That may have saved me with my red hair and green eyes. I only had a sunburn once in my life.

Then we learned that suntans and sunburns were not good for us. The fashionable look was a key for a physician to look deeper. And what the physician was searching for was skin cancer. That wasn't good. Not good at all, and certainly not fashionable.

So sunscreens hit the market. Ranging from a SPF of 2 to 60, there was a selection for everyone as the public learned about the damage of UV rays and what the sun was doing to them, or what it could do to them. Skin cancer became not something so distant as we saw friends and family deal with it, sometimes it was a minor problem, sometimes it was life threatening, as in melanoma. Sometimes it killed.

Dermatologists for some time now have been recommending sunscreens of at least 15 and preferably 30. That means that with an SPF of 15, IF applied properly, a person can be in the sun approximately 15 times longer. One with an SPF of 2 only gave the user double the time and an SPF of 30 gave the corresponding 30 times the exposure time. The same is true of SPF's of 45 and 60. And again, the operative words here are IF they are applied properly.

The FDA has come out with new regulations regarding sunscreens that will take effect in the year 2001. Instead of us being able to pick out exactly which SPF protection we desire, by number, they have mandated that the products be labeled "minimum" (SPF 2 to 12), "moderate" (SPF 12 to 30), or "high" (SPF 30+). There are several problems with this that perhaps the FDA has not considered. But the The American Academy of Dermatology has certainly thought about it. And they are not happy.

There are problems with this new regulation that the FDA has come up with. First of all, we are essentially finding that no sunscreen will be above an SPF of 30. I am certain this is of great concern to someone who is blonde with blue eyes or anyone who burns easily. I personally like SPF 45 on my children. They have many years their skin has to last. Now I find that the SPF 30 is all I can get. But even that isn't true, as some may actually be a higher SPF. But they are not allowed to tell me or you that. They can only give us the info of minimum, moderate or high. Why can the FDA decide that I don't need that information? Why do they think that my blonde blue eyed daughter or myself with fair skin, can't have above 30. So am I getting SPF 30? Am I getting more? Or worse yet, could it be possible I might even be getting less. Why can't I decide what SPF I want for my family. What advantage is there to this and what does the FDA hope to gain.

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