Suncreen Article
Hey everyone,
I normally hate Newsweek as its articles are "USA Today-esque" in terms of substance and depth, but they did have a nice little article on sunscreen. For many of us, this is probably the biggest health risk we face as a result of cycling. Due to the amount of time we spend on the bike all summer long, and due to the amount of time we spend riding each ride (sometimes 6 - 8 hours on longer rides), there are few other activities where one's faces, legs and arms are as exposed to UVA/UVB rays.
I know I bought the Neutrogena - Ultra Sheer with Helioplex 70 for my face and upper arms (as someone of Scottish decent, I am particularly vulnerable to skin-cancer), so this article made me somewhat releived. However, I bet many here are not quite educated on what to look for in terms of sunscreen, and could be riding around without effective sun screen.
Anyways - to summarize - make sure you 1 of the following 2 ingredients in your sunscreen:
UVA-safe: aveobenzone or parsol 1789.
For UVB - the SPF factor is a good indicator.
Also - since UVA blocking ingredients can break-down UVB ingredients faster than the SPF rating, look for either Helioplex or Mexoryl.
If you want to be completely safe - get Neutrogena. It may be more expensive, but it is readily available in most drug-stores and seems to be the safest bet at this point.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19484510/site/newsweek/
Last edited by VT Biker; 06-28-07 at 12:50 PM.