Think You Are Safe Using Sunscreens - BEWARE!

[PeterRS]

I remember the first fime I went on holiday after I started working. It was 2 weeks spent in early November at the Villa Rosa in Malta. Not much was heard about sunscreens in those days and I would spend most by the pool in what was then a very deserted part of the island. After 3 days I felt my skin begin to get quite itchy. I was suffering from prickly heat - over exposure to the sun, even in November - and had to find a drug store to cover my body in soothing camomile lotion. In the ensuing years before I came to live in Asia, I took two week vacations in many sunny spots, usually much closer to summer. What I put on my body then I cannot recall, but it helped me get a tan while avoiding the prickly heat rashes.

It was when I moved to Hong Kong that I really started to become a sun worshipper. Having arrived in early March, a month later a friend invited me to spend a day on her junk - a lovely few hours swimming, eating, drinking and gossiping, but with no sun. It was quite cloudy that day. Towards the end, my friend told me to put on some sunscreen. But it's not sunny, I ignorantly replied. Just do it, she said! That eveing as I was about to get into the shower, I noticed that my face was almost beetroot in colour and my nose glowing like Santa's Rudolf. I learned my lesson.

But if I recall correctly, sun lotions in those days did not have factors. You just rubbed some oil or ointment onto the skin and that was supposed to protect you. I suppose after Sundays at sea (one of the joys of living in Hong Kong), my face was less red, but it was still red. Exactly when I learned about skin protection factors, I cannot recall. But the moment I became aware of them, I always put a 16 or something like that on my face and 8 on my body. After all I still wanted to get a tan! Having the roof above my apartment meant I was tanning more than most and no doubt more than I should. But the dangers of overexposure to the sun  were only starting to become known. It still took some years, though, before I exchanged the 16 for a factor 50 for my face.

Moving to Bangkok 24 years ago and with a pool in the condo, on days with free time or no work I'd be at the pool virtually every lunchtime for at least an hour. It kept my tan going! Thankfully I was not based in Australia for by then the dangers of skin cancer had become very well known. My Australian friends covered themselves with factor 50s before our regular beach outings, whilst I stuck mostly with my 8 or slightly higher on my body.

Australians love the sun, but rightly they also fear it. 66% of Australians will require surgery for at least some form of skin cancer during their lives. In an article on today's BBC website, Australians and indeed many around the world should be not just worried - but very worried! The country has the highest rate of skin cancers in the world even though they use the highest factor screening. So why be worried? In a damning June Report, Choice Australia tested 20 of the most popular sunscreens. 16 failed the factor tests. One, Ultra Violette's Lean Screen SPF 50 Mattifying Zinc Suncreen was the "most significant failure". The test showed its SPF was just 4. A second test came up with the same result. Other brands which failed their SPF factors included Neutrogena, Banana Boat, Bondi Sands and Cancer Council.

Lean Screen was sold in nearly 30 countries at a price of US$50 upwards. The company hit back claiming its brand had been thoroughly tested. Two months later it was recalled from sale after eight separate tests showed eight different results. In the last few weeks, another four sunscreen products - not included in the original Choice Australia survey - have been withdrawn from sale. In Europe sunscreen is classified as a cosmetic. In Australia as a medicine, and therefore subject to some of the most robust regulations worldwide.

How did this happen? An investigation by the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) discovered that half the brands which had failed the Australia Choice testing had been certified by just one laboratory based in the USA, and this laboratory had consistently recorded high test results. A lab in Western Australia using the same base formula had also passed sunscreens. This is not the first time fake results have been posted. In 2019 a probe by US authorities into a suscreen testing lab ended with the owner being jailed for fraud.

How to avoid fraud? Well, doctors point out that even if a Factor 50 is actually a Factor 25, you still have some important cover. In future, regular use of an accepted high Factor applied every two hours, use of hats and other protective clothing, and more use of shade will certainly help.

GIven the amount of unprotected sunshine I experienced decades ago, I am now surprised and thankful I am for now free of skin cancer.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gzl41rpdqo

[jimmie50]

I am fair-skinned and can sunburn very easily.  I have always gone for a very high factor number when purchasing sun screen...at least 50, but usually more like 70.  However, that isn't to say I have not been somewhat skeptical of those numbers.  Most things like that I tend to only believe their claims partially.  After all, it is a business and the ultimate goal is to increase profits.  Truth in advertising is very low for most products like that.  Look at all of the anti-aging creams and weight loss pills that have been peddled to the consumer over many years.  I started losing my hair when I was 17, and by the time I was 30...pretty much bald.  Yeah, it's genetic.  Runs in my family.  I always either wear a hat if I am going to be out in the sun, or load up on the sun screen.  Never have been one to just lay out and get a tan.  

[Zipper]

 

Key Findings from CHOICE

• CHOICE tested 20 popular sunscreens labeled SPF 50 or 50+ in an accredited Australian lab.
• Only 4 out of 20 met or exceeded their claimed SPF ratings  .
• The standout performers were:
  • La Roche-Posay Anthelios Wet Skin SPF 50+ — tested at SPF 72
  • Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Body Lotion SPF 50 — tested at SPF 56
  • Cancer Council Kid Sunscreen 50+ — tested at SPF 52
  • Mecca Cosmetica To Save Body SPF 50+ Hydrating Sunscreen — tested at SPF 51
• The worst performer was Ultra Violette Lean Screen SPF 50+ Mattifying Zinc Skinscreen, which only delivered an SPF of 4, confirmed by repeat testing in Germany (SPF 5)  .
• Other sunscreens widely missed the mark, showing SPF results mostly in the 20s, 30s, and 40s, far below the claimed 50+  .

 

[BjornAgain]

Living out here as a kid, then always in and out of the pool all day long, never wore Sun tan lotion, despite the looks of someone of the Ayran race, and never got burnt. My dad on the other hand, used coconut oil and was, to coin an old British saying, as black as the ace of spades.

However, noticed in my 20's taking European holidays, ie 2 weeks of as much sun as possible, then did get burnt, so started to use the old SPF 8 or 15 on the face. Only time I got seriously burnt was on my feet, as they were covered in sand, so assumed they were protected, couldn't walk for 3 days!

Did some research into SPF's at the time (1980's), and longevity was based on 15 minutes, so SPF 8 was rated to protect for 2 hours. So came up with the theory of total exposure for 15 minutes, then spent the rest of the day under cover. Always got a good tan after the 2 weeks. Also added a good smothering of moisturiser to the face at the end of the day. 

Looking at the ingredients of today's Sun tan lotions, they contain half the contents of a pharmacist's laboratory. So wouldn't use them.

Nowadays, adopted the Aussi mantra of "Slip,Slop,Slap", although without the Slop.

[Travelingguy]

Long sleeve surfer shirts and hats offer more protection and the sunscreen doesn’t run down into your eyes.

 

[khaolakguy]

52 minutes ago, Travelingguy said:

Long sleeve surfer shirts and hats offer more protection and the sunscreen doesn’t run down into your eyes.

 

That running into your eyes always irritated me with various products but not a problem with La Roche-Posay, which also got good results in the survey that Zipper quoted from Choice.

As for trusting advertisements, of course not!! Trust the independent research companies that don't take advertisements and aren't sponsored by those that they are investigating. It sounds like Choice is such an organisation and also from many years experience the Consumers Association(Which) in the UK.

[PeterRS]

One point I failed to mention earlier. A lot of people think that sitting in the shade under a sun umbrella will stop them getting either a tan or sunburn. Most will stop some of the harming sun's rays from getting to the skin but they do not shield you from rays reflected from surrounding surfaces. Always use sunscreen even under a sun umbrella.

[Keithambrose]

7 hours ago, PeterRS said:

One point I failed to mention earlier. A lot of people think that sitting in the shade under a sun umbrella will stop them getting either a tan or sunburn. Most will stop some of the harming sun's rays from getting to the skin but they do not shield you from rays reflected from surrounding surfaces. Always use sunscreen even under a sun umbrella.

Especially on a white sandy beach, where the sun reflects off the sand, as I found out to my cost in Cuba!

[khaolakguy]

11 hours ago, Keithambrose said:

Especially on a white sandy beach, where the sun reflects off the sand, as I found out to my cost in Cuba!

Was that on the gay beach in Cuba, near Havana? I got so badly burnt there on one side that I had to go to hospital the next day! The beach attendants weren't as attentive as those in Thailand at rotating the beach umbrellas to match the movement of the sun. Meanwhile my husband was waist deep in the water and apparently transfixed by the size of the cock being offered to him, as he later told me. And I was watching the interaction from my deckchair!

[Keithambrose]

1 hour ago, khaolakguy said:

Was that on the gay beach in Cuba, near Havana? I got so badly burnt there on one side that I had to go to hospital the next day! The beach attendants weren't as attentive as those in Thailand at rotating the beach umbrellas to match the movement of the sun. Meanwhile my husband was waist deep in the water and apparently transfixed by the size of the cock being offered to him, as he later told me. And I was watching the interaction from my deckchair!

Unfortunately  not. It was a public beach! I was there on business,  and I had the weekend off. Great lobster, but I also ended up in the hospital! I still have the sunburn  scars that my dermatologist checks every year! I have had 3 bccs, on my face, so I get checked every year. I now use a moisturiser with sunscreen every morning!

[floridarob]

12 hours ago, khaolakguy said:

Was that on the gay beach in Cuba, near Havana?

Playas del Este...Mi Cayito.


I'm barely out in the sun....I mean so barely that I need to take a vitamin D supplement
#vampirelife

 

[Keithambrose]

1 hour ago, floridarob said:

Playas del Este...Mi Cayito.


I'm barely out in the sun....I mean so barely that I need to take a vitamin D supplement
#vampirelife

 

Don't go near garlic.....