How Good is Your Sunblock?
 

Yahoo.com had a good article. Here is the source that they pointed to. See how yours did. The two that I use failed abysmally. Guess I need a new sunblock.

http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/

And here is the yahoo article. http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/...sfailtoprotect

Looks like they give the lowest ratings to sunscreens with active ingredients that work! Highest ratings to organic products with zinc only.

I use Blue Lizard, very effective, but they downgrade it because of fragrance and oxybenzone. I don't think they've tested anything, just plugged ingredients into a database to create alarmist results.

No testing was done. 952 products were analysed:

"For this sunscreen analysis we obtained ingredient listings for sunscreens primarily from online retailers. We constructed health hazard ratings for each product based on our analysis of information from our in-house database comprising nearly 60 standard industry, academic, and government regulatory and toxicity databases. We rated products for overall effectiveness in sun protection considering 3 factors: UVB protection (using SPF rating as the indicator of effectiveness); UVA protection (using a standard industry absorbance model to compute two standard UVA protection factors); and stability (using a customized database compiled from a review of industry and peer-reviewed studies of how quickly different sunscreen ingredients break down in the sun). Overall, the methods and content of our analysis are based on our review of the technical sunscreen literature, including nearly 400 industry and peer-reviewed studies."

Early-AM/late-PM riding is the best UVA/UVB protection. Ride at the earliest daylight (about 5:30 this morning in Sacramento, well before official "sunrise"). If you can't ride in the morning because you have to leave for work early, save it for the two hours before dark. You won't need sunscreen.

If I'm reading it correctly the cheap Walgreens stuff I use on my face, neck and ears is pretty good.

The local dollar store has SPF 30 sunscreen that has all the right ingredients.

DW had some skin cancer removed from her nose one week ago, so guess who just got better about using sunscreen (though I'm usually pretty good about it anyway)?

What is Sunblock for? Is it for those few occasions when you might even see the Sun?

Never had to use the stuff myself- but I do have a spot that will turn pinkish if exposed to it when I am on holiday- Well several places- but only one on the bike. That is the back of my neck so I wear a bandana as a scarf with the tail at the back.

My sunblock is only good on the places I use it...
Last weekend I rode due north for 4.5 hours in a sleeveless jersey - I used sunscreen everywhere except the deep openings on the backs of my shoulders - boy did I get red.

A couple of years ago a couple came down this way from Saskatoon, Sask. They went riding on a cloudy day. She got a good sunburn and couldn't figure out why. That's what happens when the sun is more directly above.

My wife saw the article and decided the Bull Frog Quik Gel, SPF 36 I was using wasn't "working" according to the article, so she got me some Walgreen's Sunblock with Zinc Oxide for Face, Nose & Ears, SPF 45+. Goopy white cream -- looks like cold cream. :notamused:

I too use that. I love the way it applies. If I could find something that applies as well I would use something else. But I think that it works just fine.

You might want to consider this: http://www.campmor.com/outdoor/gear/Product___89737

Is this a serious question? It sounds pretty ignorant to me.

Bob
Melanoma survivor

I've never used sunblock, and now there's evidence that that may be a good thing:

http://thehealthyskeptic.org/throw-away-the-sunscreen/

stepfam is kidding. The sun doesn't shine in England.

I use a good quality SPF 30 on my arms, whihc causes my arms to sweat like crazy, resulting in soaked gloves.

Looks like the author of this blog is a well qualified - working on a master's degree in acupuncture.

I live in one of the most sun exposed areas of the world (Texas gulfcoast). I get plenty of vitamin D from sunlight. I got some severe sunburns on my upper body when I was in high school (stupid forays at the beach without any sunscreen). Guess where my melanoma showed up? Not the dark unexposed areas of the body implied by the author. I got melanoma on the very exposed right upper side of my chest. Fortunately, my wife saw it early and I went to the dermatologist immediately. Extensive surgery got it all, since it was so early.

I'll keep using my sunscreen and leave the prognostication to the inexperienced and unqualified.

Bob

I lived in Ireland for almost a year and noted the same weather. They still get UV exposure, even if the sun is not shining.

Bob

I've never used sunblock in my life. Have maybe had one sunburn in 54 years of living. Have been checked by dermatologists and given a thumbs up on several occasions. I'm so glad my family is of southern Italian decent.

Genes make a difference. Sunblock is for those who don't have nature's protection built-in, like me.

Bob

Who funded this study—the zinc oxide industry? Personally, I like zinc oxide. It's easy to tell where I've applied it and where I missed a spot. Applied carefully, you can look like Death and scare the bejesus out of small children.