It is an unfortunate fact that many people forget just how dangerous the sun can be.
“One sunburn can lead to a skin cancer 20 years down the road [or] even 10 years down the road,” said Hagerstown Dermatology nurse practitioner, Johanna Fangmeyer in a recent feature on Local DVM.
According to the Skin Cancer Foundation, a surprising one in five Americans will in fact develop skin cancer by the age of 70.
Also, the Skin Cancer Foundation states that about 90 percent of non-melanoma skin cancers and about 86 percent of melanomas are associated with exposure to UV radiation from the sun.
“We see the increase because people are more aware of it now, which is good because [if] people see something that doesn’t look right [or that] kind of just pops up on the skin, or looks abnormal, has never been there [they get it checked out],” said Fangmeyer.
Those effects all have to do to with how strong the sun’s UV rays are.
“On Tuesday for example, it’s going to be in the very high range, about an 8 to a 9 so that would mean you’re safe time is roughly going to be about 20 or so minutes at best without any kind of sunscreen,” said meteorologist, Adam Rutt.
Hagerstown Derm’s Fangmeyer states that if you are looking for a sunscreen, you should select one that has zinc or titanium oxide in it.
Although most people don’t know, Zinc and Titanium Oxide are the best physical blockers of the sun’s UV rays.