It’s summer. It’s sunny. You hang out at the beach or by the pool. You want to have a hot looking tan but you don’t want to risk skin cancer.
So you head over to your local CVS or Walgreens to pick up some suntan lotion and then the you become a deer caught in headlights.
Do you have health insurance coverage?
The last thing you want to do is spend your money on a sunscreen that isn’t providing the best protection for you. But the wording on the packaging can be confusing.
Is there really a need for all these different suntan lotion products? How do you know which ones really do protect your skin versus the ones that just help you with “perpetratin’ a tan” as YoungMC likes to rap?
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Effective June 18, 2012, the Food & Drug Administration enacted new rules for sunscreen lotion packaging.
The use of terms such as UVA and UVB and Broad Spectrum can be confusing to consumers who are staring at shelves and displays of colorful suntan lotion bottles.
Sunscreen lotions that protect against all types of sun-induced skin damage will be labeled “Broad Spectrum” and “SPF 15” (or higher) on the front. Only products that protect against both UVA and UVB radiation (see below) are allowed to use the term “broad spectrum” on their packaging.
Sunscreens that pass the broad spectrum test (see above) will provide protection against both ultraviolet B radiation (UVB) and ultraviolet A radiation (UVA). UVB affects your outer skin layer and is the biggest risk for sunburn and skin cancer. The dominant tanning ray is UVA, which penetrates deeper skin levels and can cause sunburn as well as skin cancer and premature skin aging. A certain percentage of a broad spectrum product’s total protection is against UVA.
Certain wording is no longer allowed on sunscreen packaging. There is no such thing as “waterproof”, “sweatproof” or “sunblock”. Instead, water resistance claims on the product’s front label must tell how much time a user can expect to get the declared SPF level of protection while swimming or sweating, based on standard testing. Two times will be permitted on labels: 40 minutes or 80 minutes.
Effective June 2012, sunscreens can’t claim protection immediately on application (for example, “instant protection”) or protection for more than two hours without reapplication, unless they submit data and get approval from FDA. You should apply sunscreen before you go into the sun so your body has a few minutes to absorb it.
When you buy medicine for cold and flu or headaches, the packages have a box on them called Drug Facts. Now, suntan lotions have to have that same box. The easy to read box will contain safety warnings and other important info.
There is no scientific evidence that sunscreen products with SPFs over 50 add any additional protection. The FDA is researching this. In the meantime, you may save a little money by avoiding purchase of products claiming SPF over 50. In the future, new rules might be added which require the use of SPF 50+ instead but that remains to be seen.
Understand these terms and packaging rules to help you become a smarter shopper for sunscreen products. Buying the product that isn’t the best for your situation is a waste of money. Sunscreens have a shelf life – pay attention to expiration dates. Sunscreen without an expiration date has a shelf life of no more than three years, but its shelf life is shorter if it has been exposed to high temperatures.